


Last Ones Standing

by IrishUSWNT



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Multi, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2018-09-12 10:03:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9067039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrishUSWNT/pseuds/IrishUSWNT
Summary: When a zombie apocalypse hits California, high school students Kelley O’Hara, Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux have 3 choices;Join the search for a cure, join the fight for survival or simply await their fate.





	1. Chaos in the City

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic and I'm not really sure exactly where I'm going with it but I'm sure we'll get there. I love Serlex but this somehow turned into a Kellex fanfic, although I just want to point out that relationships aren't going to be the central theme in this story. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy :)
> 
> I'll try to update often.

Alex can feel Kelley before she sees her. The defender’s fingers play with her long brown locks luring her from the clutches of sleep.

“Mmm,” 

Alex groans and buries her face deeper into the pillow.

“Hey Al,” 

Kelley’s soft voice drifts through the pillow into Alex’s ears and she finally opens her eyes. Alex turns onto her side propping herself up on her elbow. She takes in her girlfriend, her hazel eyes glistening in the light that penetrates through the slightly drawn curtains. 

“Hey Kel,” 

Kelley keeps her fingers weaving through Alex’s hair, as they lock eyes.

“It’s the morning and you just woke up. How can you look so good?”

Alex shrugs. 

“You have no idea how beautiful you are do you?” 

“Not as beautiful as you,”

“Oh stop it,”

Kelley giggles and leans into Alex, meeting her soft lips with her own. 

“Kelley! Alex! Get down here!”

The pair ignore Sydney’s shouts from downstairs keeping their lips locked in a passionate kiss. 

“Guys this is important! You won’t believe what’s on TV!”

Kelley pulls away, rolling her eyes, but Alex stops her before she can even get off the bed.

“Don’t go,” 

Alex is still half asleep, her blue eyes slightly hazy and her hair messy. Kelley smiles at how cute she looks.

“You can’t sleep forever Lex,” Kelley chuckles.

Alex puts on her huffy face bringing more laughter out of Kelley.

Then Sydney storms into the room frowning at the two.

“Well somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed,”

“This isn’t the time for jokes Kelley!” 

Alex sits up for the first time that day and rubs her eyes. Sydney’s face is dead serious and it takes Alex a while to process this as she’s never seen her best friend without a grin on her face. 

“What are you even doing up this early Syd?”

“Not everyone’s a sloth like you Alex,”

“That’s why I look so good. You know beauty sleep and all that,”

“Yes Alex I get it. Look you two something happened on the news and I’m freaking out here. Can you come down and have a look?”

“You were watching the news?”

Syd ignores them and walks out the door. 

Alex raises an eyebrow before dragging herself out of bed, sliding her feet into her slippers and following Kelley down the stairs. 

She grabs a frappuccino from Kelley’s fridge and joins them in the living room.

“Ugh typical white girl,” Kelley mocks as Alex downs the Starbucks drink.

But Alex almost spits it out when she sees the news. A horde of humans swarming a person in the middle of a road fills the screen. But on further examination the ‘humans’ don’t seem quite human. They all have grotesque injuries, be it limbs hanging off or mutilated faces. And they seem to be preying on this one victim. 

The shot then returns back to the studio where the news reporter informs everyone to stay indoors. 

“Do not leave your house, lock your doors and under no circumstances confront anyone appearing to act in a manic way. The military and law enforcement agencies have informed us that they are taking the situation under their control…”

“Eugh that’s such bullshit. Military never handles shit,” Sydney snipes flicking off the TV.

“I can’t believe they just stood there filming while that poor person got attacked,” Alex mutters solemnly. 

Kelley stares at her two friends in disapproval. 

“You actually believe this shit?”

Sydney wonders to the window at the far side of the room and peers out. Alex’s blue stare plead’s with Kelley and she closes the distance between them taking the younger girl’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“It’s probably just a publicity stunt Al. Something that absurd can’t be real,”

“You call this a publicity stunt?”

They join Sydney by the window and she points down the street towards the city. Smoke rises from some of the buildings and traffic lines the roads leading out of the city towards the suburbs.

Then Sydney’s phone goes off, making all three girls jump.

“Dom?”

Pause.

“Oh my God where are you?”

Pause.

“Are you sure it’s safe?”

Pause.

“Ok I’ll be there in 5,”

Sydney grabs her car keys and races to the front door.

“Hey wait up! Where are you going Syd?”

Sydney opens the door and turns to answer her friends.

“Dom’s at the gas station down the road. If we’re gonna survive we need supplies and I’m not hanging around until the stores are empty,”

“Sydney are you crazy! Get back in here you’re gonna get yourself killed!” Alex snaps. 

But before she can respond Sydney is hauled out of the door and it snaps shut before Kelley or Alex can reach it…


	2. Taking Action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uploading the first 3 chapters today then it might be a slower process from there so bear with me

Alex and Kelley exchange alarmed expressions and Kelley races to the door while Alex holds back.

Kelley flings the door open and steps outside into her front yard.

“Sydney!” She yells at the top of her lungs.

Sydney is nowhere to be seen and not a sound is uttered in reply. 

Kelley’s eyes search around frantically for the youngest girl in the group.

“Shit shit shit. Sydney where are you?” Kelley mutters a little more quietly. 

Alex steps out tentatively standing by Kelley’s side, her breathing heavy and uneven, her heart hammering relentlessly against her chest although only Alex can hear the latter. Subconsciously she takes Kelley’s hand and they stand paralysed by fear for what seems like an eternity. 

But then hands snatch Alex from behind and she loses her grip on Kelley’s hand. She lets out a deafening scream which is cut off when a hand clamps tightly over her mouth.

Kelley spins around and is just about to throw a punch before she too is grabbed. 

The pair struggle against the hold, their muffled cries for help heard by nobody. 

But then laughter cuts the air and the girls are released. 

Alex lets out a deep breath and hot tears she didn’t even realise she’d let out roll down her face. 

Then her assailant turns her around to face him.

“Servando?”

In that moment all fear is lost and Alex explodes. 

“Servando what the hell! Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“Hey Alex chill. You’re going to ok,”

Servando lives in-between Kelley and Alex. Alex and Kelley have been neighbours for as long as they can remember and Servando joined them from Mexico about ten years ago.   
All three of them are close friends but there is slight tension between Servando and Alex ever since Kelley and Alex got together 4 months ago.   
Servando and Alex had briefly dated in Junior year but over the summer things between Kelley and Alex had heated up as they realised that they were something more than friends.   
Servando took it hard at first but as he watched their relationship flourish, he realised that he wanted nothing more than for his two friends to be happy no matter how much it hurt him to see the girl he loved with someone else.   
But what was clear too see was that despite everything the two still very much cared for one another. 

Alex brushed away her tears and dropped her eyes sheepishly.

Servando gently lifted her chin so he could look at her.

“I’m sorry I scared you. Me and the boys were just being stupid,”

“Now’s not the time for being stupid Servando,” Alex snapped brushing him off and going to check on Sydney who’d rejoined them from where Servando’s friend had hidden her around the side of the house.

“You ok?”

“Yeah I’m fine. You?”

“Fine,”

“You don’t look fine Al,”

“Well I’m gonna have to be if we’re gonna survive this,”

“Well hop in the car and we can go see what’s going on at the gas station,”

“I don’t want to leave mine,” Alex responds pointing to her Lexus IS 350 parked on the sidewalk outside Kelley’s house behind Sydney’s Mini Cooper.

Sydney refrains from rolling her eyes.

“Hmm I suppose it has more space than mine and could probably fit more stuff in the boot,”

“I’ll go grab my keys,”

"You might want to get changed too," 

Alex looks down and realises she's still in her pyjamas. 

"Uh yeah good shout Syd,"

She heads back into the house leaving Sydney, Kelley, Servando and his two friends outside. 

“What are you three going to do?” Sydney asks Servando.

“I suppose we’ll stick with you lot. Strength in numbers and all that,”

“We’re meeting Dom at the Shell station down the road. We can’t all fit in Alex’s car so you three can take yours and follow us,”

Servando nods and heads to his ford fiesta.

“Hey Serv,” Kelley calls, “Try not to be an asshole,”

A sly grin creeps it’s way up Servando’s face but he nods genuinely before stepping into his car.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

The gas station doesn’t take them long to get too, although they pass a lot of traffic going the other way. So far everything seems normal in the suburbs. 

“No zombies yet. I’m really not buying this guys,” 

“How do you explain all this traffic then Kel?” Alex responds keeping her eyes on the road.

They reach a red light but Alex speeds through it.

“Jeez Al if we can barely survive a car journey with you how are we gonna survive a zombie apocalypse?”

Alex ignores Sydney and pulls into the gas station on their right. 

Dom and a couple of his friends are waiting for them by one of the pumps. 

Sydney leaps out of the car and crashes into him hugging him tightly. 

“Thank God you’re ok,”

Alex steps out of the car and surveys the area. They seem to be the only ones here for now.

They wait a couple of minutes for Servando and his friends and then assemble outside the store. 

“We should split up and look for specific items,” Dom suggests taking charge.

“Ok we’ll look for medical supplies and food and stuff,” Sydney states.

“We’ll look for gas and tools,” Servando pipes up.

“We’ll see if we can find anything to use as weapons then,” Dom says with a smirk. 

Alex, Kelley and Sydney are the first to enter the store. They stand in silence for a while listening for any signs of life. When they hear nothing they make their way down one of the aisles that is stocked with food. 

“We should’ve grabbed our schoolbags dammit,”

“Here we can use these for now,” 

Kelley hands them a bin bag each from a pack she just picked up from one of the shelves.

“Good thinking,”

The three quickly start lifting food off the shelves and pack it into their bags. They pack granola bars, canned meat, beefy jerky, raisons, beans, soup, crackers, oats, powdered milk and peanut butter. Kelley grabs a case of water and takes Sydney and Alex’s bags.

“I’ll go stick these in the car. You two go look for medical supplies,”

Sydney and Alex make their way down another aisle that looks to be stocked with pharmaceutical supplies.

“I don’t like this Syd,” Alex whispers amongst grabbing a first aid kit of the shelf.

Sydney doesn’t break her concentration as she answers Alex.

“It’ll be ok Alex. We’ve got each other and Kelley and Dom and Servando and their friends. We have six guys on our side. And I haven’t seen a single one of these zombies yet. For what we know the suburbs could be safe,”

“Yeah but we don’t know for how long,”

A loud clatter from a few rows in front of them catches them off guard.

They both stop what they are doing and Alex clamps onto Sydney.

“Kelley is that you?” Sydney calls out.

When there is no reply she stands up from where they are crouched beside the shelf. Sydney creeps along the shelf and peers around the corner.

“Sydney what are you doing?” Alex hisses.

Sydney puts a finger to her lips and slips around the corner out of sight leaving Alex all alone.

“Shit,”

Alex finds the courage to move but the sound of footsteps behind her stops her in her tracks. Alex slowly turns around to face a woman at the end of the aisle. She is pointing a gun at her and Alex almost passes out with fear.

“Don’t move,”

Alex naturally wants to back away but her feet won’t respond. All of her muscle memory has gone out the window. She can’t even make a sound. Right now Alex is the literal definition of frozen. 

The woman is quite a bit older than Alex. She is tall and athletic and she looks as though she knows exactly how to use the weapon she directs at Alex. Her pale blue eyes burn into Alex and she loses all hope. 

“Let me see what’s in that bag,”

Her voice is not what Alex would’ve expected from someone so intimidating. It is high-pitched and doesn’t really do a good job of scaring Alex any further, not that that is even possible right now.

Alex glances at the black bag by her feet and then back to the woman at the end of the aisle. 

The woman starts to walk closer and that’s when Alex panics. She lifts the bag and starts to back away.

Then someone comes flying out of nowhere towards Alex’s assailant knocking her off balance. 

But not before a shot is fired and Alex crashes to the floor…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourself for a lot of cliff hangers...


	3. This is real

“Ashlyn! Ashlyn!”

Yet another woman comes sprinting down the aisle crushing Ashlyn in a tight hug. She brushes aside the blonde hair on her face so she can see her. 

“Ashyn oh my God I thought you were dead! What happened?”

“Bandits. I think it was The Lawless,”

“Hope?”

Ashlyn nods and her companion’s brown eyes trace over her.

“I heard a gunshot. Are you hit?”

“No but I can’t say the same for that girl over there,”

Ashlyn points to Alex who is lying on her back on the floor. Blood spills out of the bullet hole Hope left in her right leg. She presses her hands over the wound in a halfhearted attempt to stop the bleeding, groaning at the pain.

“She one of them?” Ashlyn’s companion asks fiercely unholstering her own gun.

Ashlyn stops her.

“No. She’s just some random kid. She wasn’t alone though,”

“Well The Lawless must’ve scarpered and there’s noone outside but us. Now come on let’s get going before they come back or anymore bandits show up,”

“What are we gonna do with her?”

Ashlyn walks up to Alex and crouches beside her examining her leg. Alex is trembling and the edges of her vision are starting to blur. If ever she needed her friends to show up it was now.

“Leave her Ash,”

Ashlyn meets Alex’s eyes and her heart drops. 

“She’s just a kid Ali,”

“Exactly. She’s just a kid and kids can’t survive this sort of thing,”

“Ali,”

“NO!”

Ali aims her gun at Alex and readies herself to shoot but Ashlyn steps in the way.

“You can’t just shoot a kid!”

“We’re not some sort of heroes Ash. We can’t just save everyone we see!”

“This is not who we are Ali,”

“Don’t do this to me Ash,”

“What because you know you can’t shoot me?”

The words hit home and Ali lowers her gun in frustration. 

“Fine take her. But she’s your responsibility Ash. Anything happens to her, it’s on you,”

Ali shoves a few supplies into a backpack and walks out of the store.

“Sorry about her. How’s you leg? Think you can hold up?”

Alex finally focuses in on the woman that saved her life. She is young, maybe only a few years older than her. She is a natural brunette but her hair has been dyed blonde. She looks dressed for war and Alex can tell she’s already done some killing due to the splatters of blood all over her green jacket. She too has a handgun holstered on her hip. Where is everyone getting these guns from Alex wonders. 

“Hey are you ok kid. C’mon I need you to stay with me,”

Alex realises she’s been so busy studying this woman that she hasn’t answered her question.

“Uh yeah I can cope,” This is a lie because the pain is killing Alex but she doesn’t want to let on.

“W-who are you guys?”

“We came from the city,” Ashlyn responds while helping Alex to her feet. Alex grunts at the pain.

“Here lean on me,”

“A-are my friends still here?”

Ashlyn sighs and helps Alex out of the store. Ali is loading up a pickup truck with supplies. A couple of jeeps are parked beside it. Seven other people seem to have travelled with Ashlyn and Ali. Five of them are men and two are women, all of varying ages. They look like a strong unit whoever they are.

“Your friends made it out safe,”

Alex nods but her eyes fill with tears. Her friends just left her. Whatever happened she knows it was probably a blur and they had to react on instinct. But now she’s all alone with these strangers with no choice but to trust them.

Alex’s eyes latch on to a few bodies scattered along the sidewalk and the sight sends a nasty chill down her spine.

“This is real,”

“Huh?”

Alex didn’t realise she’d said they words out loud. 

“Nothing,”

“Here jump in the truck with Ali and I,”

Alex is about to climb into the back of the pick-up truck but then someone kicks her to the curb. The impact knocks the wind out of her and when she looks up she’s looking down the barrel of a gun.

“You were gonna spare one of them Ashlyn!”

A large man holds Alex down and presses his finger slowly on the trigger. 

“Gus wait! She’s not with them!”

Gus’s face slightly softens and he studies Alex’s face for a while. 

“Hmm you’re right. This girl’s just a teen. What the hell are you doing out here kid huh?”

“Trying to survive,”

The man snorts and the rest of the group joins in.

“Well you’re doing a pretty sweet job at that aren’t you?”

“Leave her alone Gus,” 

Ashlyn shoves him out of the way and gives Alex a hand up.

“Get in the car,”

Alex hesitates for a moment.

“Get in the car!”

Alex limps to the pick-up as fast as her legs can carry her. 

“She’s coming with us,”

“No Ash she’s going with you. I’m not having a damn kid messing things up for us. So if you really want to save this girl then you’re gonna have to do it without us,”

“You’re kicking me out?”

“It’s your choice,”

The man brushes past Ashlyn and gathers up his supplies, throwing them into the jeep. The rest of the group do the same and soon there is nobody left outside the cars other than Ashlyn, Alex and Ali. The three of them watch in silence as the two jeeps drive off.

Then Ali smacks the door of the pick-up.

“Dammit Ashlyn!”

“Ali please,”

“Gus won’t allow it Ashlyn,”

“Ok can you two just tell me what the hell is going on!” Alex demands getting between them.

“We’re trying to find a cure,” Ashlyn blurts out much to Ali’s disgust. 

“A cure?”

“People in the city are infected with some sort of parasite. They look like zombies and act like them too. But we kept seeing these bugs crawling around on the walls and the floor…”

“That’s enough Ashlyn,” Ali snaps.

“Where are you guys going?”

“We were gonna set up base in a bunker a couple of miles from here but I guess that’s out of the question now. Now get in the car. We can’t stick around here too long,”

Alex hops into the back of the car and is surprised when Ashlyn joins her and Ali takes the wheel.

“So what’s your smart ideal Ash?”

“I know a place we can go,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who are The Lawless...


	4. Separation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shedding light on what happened at the gas station

Kelley walks out of the store, case of water in one hand and the three bags of food bunched up in the other. 

Dom is searching the glove compartment of an abandoned BMW Z4.

“Found anything,”

Dom steps out of the vehicle empty-handed.

“Nothing,”

Servando and his friends return from round the side of the station with a few gas canisters between them. Servando also happens to have a crow bar in his other hand. 

“Woah. Good job guys!”

“Load em up,”

“Where’s the other two?” Servando asks sliding a gas canister into the back of his boot. 

“Just finishing up. They’ll be out soon,”

“Anymore crowbars where that came from?” Dom asks Servando.

“Nope sorry,”

“Well we’ve got company so you’re gonna need it,”

A large white van is speeding down the road with no regard for anyone. The driver takes their foot off the gas and it drifts into the gas station abruptly stopping at the nearest pump. The driver and their passenger jump out followed by four more people who jump out of the back of the van holding AK 47s.

“Drop everything and put you hands behind your head!” 

Dom eyes the parked cars beside him. If they can just catch them off guard…

“Get behind the cars!”

They race for cover behind the vehicles. Everyone makes it bar one of Servando’s friends and one of Dom’s. 

“Drew!” Servando screams, but his other friend holds him back. 

They sit with their backs against the steel of his ford. 

Ear-splitting gunshots erupt all around them as bullets whiz past them or hit the cars.

“Aim for the pumps,” the drivers sinisterly orders her entourage. Then she walks away from them through the open door of the store. 

“They’re gonna blow the pumps!” Kelley screeches. 

But then the screeching of tires can be heard and the shower of bullets heading their way stops. Dom pokes his head out of cover. Two jeeps and a pickup truck have pulled up on the sidewalk and a firefight has broken out between their occupants and the group that attacked Dom and co. 

“Get in the car!”

Dom opens the door of his Honda Civic and his friend and Kelley barrel in. Servando and his friend leap into the ford. 

“Wait!”

Sydney comes running towards them and squeezes into the Civic just on time. 

“Where’s Alex?” Kelley asks worriedly.

“I thought she might be with you guys,”

“She’s still in there?!”

Kelley pulls down on the handle of the door. 

“Kelley no! We have to go!”

Dom steps on the accelerator and squeezes through a narrow gap between the cars parked on the sidewalk, almost hitting someone along the way. The back window shatters as a shard of bullets hits it and the passengers are forced to keep their heads down. They make it over a hill and out of sight, the road bringing them closer and closer to the city.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

 

“Lauren! Fire me some ammo!” 

“I’m all out!” 

“I’ve got a smoke grenade,”

“Use it Whit,”

Whitney pulls out the pin and throws the grenade onto the sidewalk. The screen of smoke gives the three women enough time to get into the van while the two men hold back and continue shooting through the smoke. 

“Where the hell is Hope?!”

“Forget her,”

“Look Lauren we all know where you two stand but we need her,”

“Well I don’t know about you Carli but I want to make it out of here alive! So step on it!”

The glass smashes and Carli screams as a bullet hits her arm.

“I never liked you anyway,” Lauren says coldly reaching over Carli, opening the door and kicking her out of the van before speeding off. 

Carli gets to her feet and scarpers while the smoke is still thick enough to keep her from view.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Hit the tyres!” 

“Forget it Abby it’s a lost cause. We already got three of them,”

“Was Hope in the van?”

“Didn’t look like it,”

“I’ll check the store,”

The driver of the pickup, a tall woman with blonde hair that falls in loose waves halfway down her back, runs towards the open door of the store. 

“Ashlyn wait! I’m going with you,”

A dark haired woman races after her but a loud gunshot rings out before she gets there.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

In one car Kelley is a wreck, in the other Servando is too. Inside they are all wrecks but it is more evident in these two. 

Tears stream down Kelley’s face and she is almost at the point of hyperventilating. Sydney is doing everything she can to calm her down but Kelley’s cries are drowning out everything. They can’t even hear the sound of the engine as Dom closes in on the city. 

“We fucking left her. We fucking left her!” 

“We’ll go back for her Kelley. I promise,”

Sydney wraps an arm around her and squeezes her hand. 

“I told her it wasn’t real. I made her believe we’d be fine and now she’s gone…”

Kelley chokes out the last part unable to continue. 

Silence fills the car as they are swallowed up by the city and buildings engulf them from left to right. There are cracks in some of the windows and others are smashed completely. Dom has to slam on the breaks to avoid crashing into the tail-end of an abandoned car. 

Servando hits the breaks of his own car just in time and it abruptly stops just inches away from Dom’s. 

They sit there a moment in further silence. Then a movement about 30 meters away on the sidewalk nearest to them catches Dom’s eye. 

“Shh,” 

A middle-aged man staggers along the concrete towards them. Blood drips down his face and his t-shirt is torn exposing deep scratches on his torso. A women of similar age steps around the corner. The man catches Dom’s eye and they are caught in a stare off for a few seconds. His hollow, sunken eyes search Dom’s and then he starts to hobble across the road towards them. 

“Dom I think you should drive,” Sydney orders trying to keep the panic out of her voice. 

But a car drifts around the corner of the junction smashing into another one that was trying to go the same way. 

The pile up of crashed and abandoned cars leaves Dom with no option but to reverse back the way they came but he can’t go anywhere as Servando is frozen at the wheel of his Ford unable to move.

Then out of nowhere zombies start to fill the area and they are surrounded with nothing but a metal cage between them and certain death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter didn't take me as long to write as I thought it would. Updates will probably be pretty regular while I'm off school


	5. A couple of mechanics

Alex lies across the back seats of the car with her feet propped up on Ashlyn’s lap. 

Ashlyn removes the tourniquet from Alex’s leg and applies a pressure bandage over the wound.

Alex has been so caught up in the action that she hasn’t had time to go into shock and the moment’s passed her by. So she remains relatively calm while Ashlyn tends to her wound with gentle hands and Ali cruises through the city taking a stealthier route through quiet back alleys and deserted streets. 

“You’re a soccer player?”

Alex’s breaks her daydream and her eyes widen.

“Uh yeah. How did you know?”

“I used to play in college and those legs of yours are unmistakably the legs of a soccer player,”

Alex blushes slightly.

“I play in high school. Well used to play,” Alex corrects herself realising that it’ll be a while before she has a ball at her feet again. 

“Aw shit there’s one of those little buggers,” Ali hisses from the front.

“Drive through him. I’m not firing any shots or we’ll draw attention to ourselves. Plus I’m low on ammo,”

Ali revs the engine up and rams straight into a zombie in the middle of the road sending him flying into a trashcan at the back of a cafe. 

“We’re almost here. Just keep going,”

They drive down a few more quiet streets and then Ali pulls up outside a large building with the shutters pulled down. An eight foot chainmail fence marks a dead-end in the alley they are now sitting in. 

“Out you get,” Ali instructs while stepping out of the pickup truck. 

Ashlyn gets out, walks to the shutters and taps on them seven times in a rehearsed sequence. 

Tap tap tap tap tap, tap tap

“Password,” 

“Julie it’s me, Ashlyn,”

“Ashlyn?”

The voice on the other side sounds bewildered.

“Yeah can you let us in,”

There is a pause and then the turning of cogs as the shutters start to lift. Ali puts an arm around Alex’s shoulder and leads her to the building. 

But then they hear a growl behind them.

“Ali hurry up! Julie help them in. I’ll hold them off,”

Ashlyn draws her gun and starts shooting at the band of zombies behind Ali and Alex. 

Julie pulls them through the gap in the shutters while Ashlyn continues to unload her glock at the approaching swarm of infected. 

The shutters start to lower and the gap between them and the ground grows smaller. 

“Ashlyn get the hell in here!”

Ashlyn backs up and drops to the ground rolling through the gap. A pair of grimy hands grab her ankles trying to drag her back outside. Julie takes Ashlyn’s hand while she kicks herself free from the infected. Once Ashlyn is safely inside the shutters speed up and hit the ground with a hard smack. 

Blood and guts fly through the air as the hands of the zombie that grabbed Ashlyn roll along the floor. 

“Man that was a close one,”

Julie helps Ashlyn to her feet. 

“You good?”

“Well I wouldn’t exactly call it good but I’m still breathing so that’s a plus,”

“Ashlyn?” a tan, dark haired woman calls out to her from behind a control panel by the shutters. 

“Christen, hey. I knew you two would be holed up here. Safest place to be right now,”

Alex takes in their surroundings. They are in some sort of garage. Cars have been hoisted up on winces or jacks, minus their wheels or doors. Tools line the walls and toolboxes lie beside rundown cars. Shelves on the walls are filled with tyres and various parts. A desk faces a wall on their right with a filing cabinet beside it and several posters on the wall. Alex gathers that they must be fans of road trips judging by the photos pinned to a board on the wall of the pair posing in front of a black and yellow hummer in different parts of America. 

Christen gives Ashlyn a hug and greets Ali. Then her eyes fall on Alex.

“Who’s your friend?”

“This is uh..."

"Alex," Alex fills her name in for Ashlyn having not actually introduced herself yet. 

"We were ambushed at a gas station on the outskirts of the city. This one,” Ashlyn points at Alex, “got shot in the leg. I’ve mostly stopped the bleeding but I hope you don’t mind us taking refuge here for a bit while I remove the bullet and she heals up a bit,”

“Yeah sure stay. But we don’t have much food left…”

“It’s fine. Ali was able to grab some from the gas station before we left,”

“Yeah but it’s in the pickup which is outside with all those zombies,”

“We have surveillance cameras outside,” Julie informs them while motioning to a computer on top of the desk. 

“We can keep an eye on them and when they clear you can go and get your stuff,” 

“Your friend can lie down over there,”

Christen points to makeshift sleeping quarters in the corner at the back of the garage. Ashlyn leads Alex over to it and she lies down on the blankets resting her head on the pillow. 

Christen and Julie resume whatever it was they were doing before while Ali takes a seat and lights up a cigarette she took from a pack on the desk. 

“We’ll be safe here,” Ashlyn reassures Alex while cleaning up her wound.

“I used to go to college with these two then they dropped out after the first semester to become mechanics. I guess college isn’t for everyone,”

She opens up a self-made first aid kit and pulls out some tweezers. 

“This is gonna hurt. Try not to scream too loud,”

Alex grits her teeth and grips the blankets tightly while Ashlyn carefully removes the bullet from her thigh. Warm bloods runs down her leg and starts to pool on the ground beside her. 

Alex starts to feel herself passing out while Ashlyn continues to clean her wound and patch her back together again. 

“Sorry I didn’t have any anaesthesia,”

Then everything goes black and Alex hears no more. 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Hank the guard team just radioed. They’re back,”

“Open the doors,”

Hank walks up a flight of steep steps and down a narrow cave-like tunnel until he reaches a thick door at the top.

A couple of guards open it and seven people squeeze through arms loaded with supplies. 

When no more walk through the door Hank looks at the leader of the group with a puzzled expression.

“What happened to the rest?”

“We lost Jeff, Kevin and Cara and Ashlyn and Ali split from the group,”

“They split?”

“Yeah Ashlyn thought saving some kid was more important than our primary objective,”

Hank’s face reddens and he orders the guards to shut the door. 

“I send twelve of you out on a simple mission to gather supplies and I lose five!”

Hank grabs Gus by his jacket and pushes him against the rocky wall of the bunker.

“We have the world in our hands Gus and if I can't trust you with a simple mission what can I trust you with?” 

“It won’t happen again,” Gus spits clearly unhappy with being manhandled by Hank. 

“One more chance Gus. Mess up again and I’ll put a bullet in your head,”

Gus nods and Hank lets him go.

“Now get downstairs,”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Lauren drives through the open doors of a massive airplane hanger and cuts the engine. She steps out with Whitney and they greet a bunch of rough looking bandits who have been waiting for them.

“What happened?”

“We had a showdown with The Paragons,”

“Eugh Witney please don’t call them that,”

“Isn’t that what they’re known as?”

“I’d rather call them “The Pests”. Anyway what happened to Hope,”

“Hope’s gone,”

The bandits stare at Lauren in astonishment.

“You know what that means,”

Their faces turn to stone and they nod solemnly.

A smug look makes it way onto Lauren’s face.

“I’m in charge…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I aged Christen and Julie up a bit to fit the story otherwise Julie would be like 14 and that doesn't really work lol


	6. Parting ways

“I can’t stop thinking about how many times my parents have called me wondering if I’m ok. I wish I’d remembered to grab my phone before we left,”

Sydney looks up from the dark screen of her own phone. Kelley is standing by the window of the apartment they scarpered to after the zombie attack. Several gunshots from a few streets across was enough to distract the zombies and give them precious time to ditch their cars and run to a block of apartments, up several flights of stairs and through the slightly ajar door of an empty flat on the top floor. They spent the night in the small flat with just enough room to fit the six of them. Servando and his friend Dale lie asleep on the couch while Dom sits in the corner sharpening a toothbrush into a lethal shiv.

“Well my phone’s dead so it’s not much use,” Sydney says chucking her phone onto an armchair opposite Servando and Dale. 

“Phone’s aren’t going to be any use anymore,” Dom chips in while wrapping a facecloth handle around the shiv and securing it with elastic bands.

“Where’d you learn how to do that babe?”

“Some prison movie,”

Kelley turns around from the window and glares at Dom.

“Is that what this is to you? Some sort of movie, a chance to kill people, a real life video game,”

“Kelley…”

“Don’t Kelley me! You got Drew and Adam killed! If you’d just put your hands up instead of playing Bruce Willis they’d still be here! And then you drive off without Alex! What the hell’s gotten into you?! People are dying Dom!”

“I just want this to be over Kelley. We all do. And we’re gonna have to make difficult choices…”

“Well start making the right choices then! Or we’ll all be dead in a couple of days,”

“Kelley I’m sorry,”

“Bring Alex back and then you can be sorry,”

Kelley storms to the bathroom and slams the door so loud Servando wakes with a jolt almost falling off the couch. 

“Zombies?”

“Kelley,”

“Oh,”

Servando sits up and leans back into the cushions.

Dom takes a deep breath. 

“I’m sorry about Drew Servando,”

Servando swallows a lump in his throat and tries to kick the emotion out of his expression, his voice, him. 

“Don’t talk about it,” 

There is more malice behind it than he intended and Dom drops his head. He walks to the other side of the room and drops to the floor, sliding down the wall. Sydney joins him and takes his hand.

“I’ve really screwed up haven’t I,”

“Dom you’re the only one that stepped up. I didn’t see anyone else making choices,”

“But I made the wrong choices,”

“At least you made choices,”

Dom nods and rests his head on Sydney’s shoulder. They sit in silence until sleep grants them a release from their cruel reality. 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Since when did you start smoking?”

Ali is in the process of lighting up another cigarette while she, Ashlyn, Julie and Christen haunch over a computer on the desk. 

“My stress levels are through the roof right now Ashlyn. I think I’ve a pretty legitimate excuse,”

“Well don’t come crying to me when you become addicted and you run out cause last time I checked tobacco factories don’t operate during zombie apocalypses,”

“Oh shut up Ashlyn. We’re getting off topic,”

Ashlyn shakes her head and brings up a map of the city on the computer screen.

“Alright so I hacked into the city surveillance system. We need to get to the lab on the other side of the city. This would be easy except several streets are teeming with zombies and parasites and there’s bandits setting up base left, right and centre. Most of the roads are out of the question with cars and and trucks scattered all over them. There’s also the fact that the military have the lab on lockdown and aren’t going to let any random person walk in…”

“But we’re not random people,”

“We are to them. So here’s what we’re gonna do. If you two can get that van fully operational by 4am tomorrow morning,” 

Ashlyn points to a small white van behind them, 

“we’re gonna weave our way through the city to this rendezvous point,” 

She points to an underpass with a river beside it. 

“You two are going to sit tight here while Ali and I go the rest of the way on foot. I noticed you have a couple of walkie talkies so your job is to monitor the surveillance systems and warn us of any danger. Once we get close we need you to create a diversion that’s gonna distract the guards so we can slip through,”

“What about her?”

Christie motions to Alex who’s been passed out in the corner for over 24 hours. 

Ashlyn’s face goes solemn.

“Gus was right. I shouldn’t have saved her. She’s not gonna make it,”

“Who’s not gonna make it?”

Ashlyn freezes. By the time she turns around Alex is sitting up against the wall, arms crossed staring sceptically at her. 

Ashlyn’s jaw drops. Alex is ghostly pale and her voice is hoarse and weak, but she is alive.

“I-I you’re alive?”

“What does it look like?”

Ashlyn rushes over and checks Alex’s leg. The stitching remains intact and although the wound isn’t the prettiest there aren’t any signs of infection. 

“I thought I’d messed up the operation. I-I thought you were gonna die,”

“You’ve done this before?”

“I used to be a cadet and I was trained in first aid but I’ve never done it in real life,”

“Well congratulations your training paid off,”

Alex tries to stand but slumps back down again much to her frustration.

“Do you know how long it’ll be til I can walk again?”

Ashlyn crouches beside Alex and places a hand on her knee.

“You need to rest,”

“I heard you guys talking Ash. You’re just gonna leave me?”

“Alex we don’t have a choice…”

“I get it,”

Ashlyn nods, relief flooding through her.

“But those two,” Alex motions to Julie and Christen who are gearing up the van, “they’re coming back right?”

“Yeah they’ll be back Alex,”

“How long will you be?”

“I don’t know. But you’ll be safe here I promise. Just keep the shutters closed. We have enough food for you to last til Julie and Christen get back. And they’ll grab some on the way,”

Alex nods and lies back down as Ashlyn turns towards the others to get back to preparing for their mission.

“Ashlyn you guys mentioned ‘The Lawless’ yesterday. Are they the one’s that shot me?”

Ashlyn stops and walks back to Alex. 

“The Lawless are bad people Alex. They think they’re just doing what it takes to survive, but it’s turned into a battle for dominance. They’re taking advantage of all the chaos, the breach in security, the lack of structure. To them there are no more laws. That’s why we call them The Lawless. All they care about is themselves and they don’t give a damn how many laws they break in order to survive,”

“Don’t they care about a cure?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it. But like I said, all they care about is their own wellbeing. They don’t care about the good of mankind. They’ll save themselves and scarper off somewhere that doesn’t have this problem,”

“You mean the infection hasn’t spread?”

“You really gotta stop asking questions kid,”

Ali places a hand on Ashlyn’s wrist and pulls her away from Alex.

“What you don’t know can’t hurt you. Your concern should be keeping the infection out of that leg of yours, cause you’re on your own now,”

Alex traces her eyes over the crooked stitching keeping the bullet hole closed.

“Thank you,”

The appreciation in her voice is palpable as she locks eyes with Ashlyn. 

“Hopefully you’re the first of many saved lives,”

“Promise me you two’ll make it to the lab alive,”

“I promise,”

“Alright you two that’s enough. We’ve got stuff to do Ashlyn. Now come on,”

Ashlyn leaves Alex with a smile and Alex snuggles into the blankets, closing her eyes and losing herself in her thoughts.

~Flashback~

“Hurry up and order the pizza Sydney. I’m starving!”

“Hey stop moaning at me. You’re the one who hasn’t even chosen a movie yet,”

Alex looks at the pile of DVDs in front of her.

“Mean girls or White Chicks Kelley. What do you think?”

Kelley peeks her head around Alex’s shoulder from behind her on the sofa. 

“Ooh that’s a tough one Al,”

“Yeah they’re like my two favourite movies. I can’t choose,”

“Oh for goodness sake you two. Just do eeny, meeny, miny, moe,”

Alex’s finger lands on Mean Girls and she slots it into the DVD player. Sydney calls up the pizza place and orders a pepperoni pizza big enough for the 3 of them. 

That night they tuck into pizza and popcorn while reciting all the lines they know from the movie they’ve watched many times before.

Alex goes to bed and falls asleep in Kelley’s arms, oblivious to the chaos she’ll wake up to in the morning.

~End of flashback~

 

“It’s a shame you two don’t carry guns,”

“We’re mechanics what did you expect?”

“We do collect blades though…”

Christie leads Ashlyn to a collection of swords and knives displayed on the wall near the desk. A couple of katanas, a saber, a dao, some throwing knives and a kukri make up an impressive and expensive looking collection. 

Ashlyn whistles.

“Wow,”

Christen selects the dao while Julie opts for a katana. They finish loading up the van and Christen walks to the control panel ready to lift the shutters. 

“Go get em Ash,”

Ashlyn wraps Alex in a hug and holds back her tears.

“I’m sorry I have to leave you,”

“It’s fine. I’ll be fine. You’ll be fine,”

They part ways and Ashlyn gets behind the wheel of the van. She slowly drives out into the alley and Christen joins them on the other side. 

Alex watches as the shutters close and she is once again left all alone, except this time for much longer.


	7. Make yourself at home

“Well that was easier than I thought,”

Ashlyn, Ali, Julie and Christen have arrived at the rendezvous point after just a couple of hours without any serious encounters with zombies or bandits. 

“Don’t say that. You’ll jinx us,” Christen scolds her.

“Alright let’s go. I might have to nick your katana Julie. I shoulda grabbed the other one cause I hardly have any ammo left in my glock,”

Julie frowns.

“You do realise how much these things cost Ashlyn?”

“Seriously Julie?”

“It’s not my fault you have zero preparation skills,”

Julie however eventually gives up her sword and turns her attention to the laptops in the back of the van where they are out of sight to the outside world.

“Alright we’ve got your back now get a move on,”

“Thanks you two. When this is all over we need to throw a mega party,”

“Glad to see you’re being so optimistic,” Julie deadpans.

“Alright here we go,”

Ashlyn opens the back doors of the van and jumps out with Ali close behind her. 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“We were able to take DNA samples from some of the zombies we killed. We need you to get these back to the lab for proper analysis. The equipment we have here isn’t extensive enough,”

Abby nods her head and takes the viles carefully slotting them into her jacket pocket. 

“Becky’s coming with me. We don’t need anyone else. The fewer there are the more subtle we can be,”

“Glad to see someone’s at least learning from last time,”

Abby picks up a semi-automatic shotgun from the table of guns by the wall of the underground room carved from rock. Becky joins her and takes a couple of uzis. 

“The military should let you in, but if they give you any trouble don’t be afraid to raise a storm,”

“Becky protect Abby at all costs. Those viles are priceless. I expect them to arrive at the lab in pristine condition,”

“Got it,”

The pair slip out of the bunker, get into the jeep and head for the city.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“So Lauren you’re in charge. What’s our next move?”

“We’re going to infiltrate the lab. I know they’re working on a cure or vaccine of sorts and we’re going to take it and then get the hell out of here. Texas is our best bet,”

“Lauren this is crazy! Why don’t we just head to Texas now? The infection hasn’t spread there yet as far as I hear,”

“Yeah well we’re going to be prepared in case it already has. And then we’re gonna blow the city and every other infected one until we get rid of this for good,”

“What about the other survivors?”

“The Paragons are working way too slowing. Why they don’t just hurry up and kill all those damn lost causes is beyond me. They’re never going to bring them all back from the dead. And as for the rest, hasn’t the city been evacuated already?”

“Whatever you say Lauren,”

“Good now lets get going. I’m not wasting anymore time,”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“So what exactly is going on at the lab Ash?”

Ashlyn came up with the idea of trekking through the underground sewage systems in order to remain undetected. She keeps a scarf wrapped around her mouth to keep the stench out. So far all they’ve encountered are a few large rats. Julie and Christen stay put at the rendezvous point in case Ali and Ashlyn need to come back up to the surface. 

“They’re working on a cure and a vaccine. These parasites don’t actually kill the person I think. They just burrow inside them and the person becomes aggressive because they have to feed the parasite inside them. That’s why they’re going around eating people. I can’t really explain why so many people are surviving the attacks though or why the ‘zombies’ aren’t attacking each other. So much of it still doesn’t make sense. But if they can find a cure what they’re going to do is round up all the infected and spray them with knockout gas then go to work,”

“How do you know all this?”

“You know how much of my college course takes place in that lab Ali. I was there when this all broke out. We’d been studying these bugs for the past few months then one morning we showed up to the lab and some of the lab assistants were dead. We searched the building and found one of the scientists acting all crazy. He was aggressive and when we restrained him we discovered that one of these bugs had got loose and he’d swallowed it in his sleep. Things eventually got out of control and there was an outbreak of these ‘zombies’. The lab was put on lockdown and we kept the infected in confinement. But then there was a breach and they got out into the city and the rest is history,”

“Must feel good to know so much,”

The rest of the journey they walk in silence. Ashlyn opens a door and climbs up a metal ladder sliding open a manhole cover at the top. 

“Alright Julie, are we clear?”

The other end of the radio is static.

“Julie?”

Still nothing. 

“Julie come in. Do you read?”

The radio cracks and then Julie’s voice comes through frantic and panicked. 

“Ashlyn you two are going to need to be stealthy and watch your backs,”

“Why? Julie what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“The Lawless are in town…”

Ashlyn pulls herself out of the manhole shielding her eyes from the blinding light of the sun.

“Well that just makes this all the more fun,”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Alex stares at the shutters sadly, wishing she could be of more use in Ashlyn’s mission. She slowly gets to her feet and pain shoots through her leg but she uses the wall to keep herself up. She inches along to the desk using the wall for support. When she gets there she collapses into the office chair and stares at the screen of the computer. The surveillance cameras bring up an image of the other side of the shutters, which is empty at the moment. Alex sighs. Never has she felt so bored in all her life.

She takes a cigarette from the pack on the desk and twirls it around in her fingers. A mini fridge in the corner catches her eye. She hobbles over to it and has a look inside. It is filled with whisky and beer. Looks like Julie and Christen where quite the drinkers. 

Alex grabs a bottle of whiskey and screws off the cap. She takes a swig and screws up her face at the taste. ‘Whiskey isn’t for me I guess’ she notes in her head. 

A knock on the shutter draws her from her thoughts. 

“Julie, Christen?”

Wait they couldn’t be back this soon. They only left around four hours ago. Alex wasn’t expecting to see them again til the afternoon. 

Without second thought she grabs the Kukri from Julie’s collection and tucks it into the waistband of her pants. She glances at the computer screen which shows two teens only a year or two older than her resting by the shutters. One of them looks rather beat up and Alex feels sorry for her. 

She limps over to the shutters.

“You two the only ones out there?”

“Hey can you let us in?”

The voice on the other side sounds startled like she didn’t expect anyone to be inside the garage.

Alex thinks for a moment. The pair seem pretty harmless but Julie had told her to keep the shutters down.

Fuck it. Screw what Julie thinks. She mightn’t even come back anyway and I could do with some company.

Alex studies the control panel for the shutters and opens them without hesitation. The two teens scuttle in and Alex quickly closes the shutters again.

“Thank you,” 

“Don’t mention it. You two look like you could do with a place to stay,”

Then Alex glances at the other girl and her face drops. 

She’s just let an infected girl into her safe house.

Alex draws her kukri and takes up a fighting stance.

“Wait! She’s not infected! She’s immune!”

Alex keeps up her stance. The hazel-eyed “immune” girl hasn’t charged her yet. She lowers the kukri slowly and gazes at her in amazement.

“Immune?”

“Yeah she got attacked and the parasite got inside her but she hasn’t turned into one of those things,”

Alex can’t take her eyes off the brown-haired immune girl. 

“What are your guy’s names?”

“I’m Allie and she’s Tobin. The parasite destroyed her vocal chords, so she can’t talk,”

Alex smiles, glad to finally have some company. 

“Make yourself at home,”


	8. Defiance

“So are you two from the city?” 

They were sitting by the sleeping area downing beers and getting lost in conversation. 

“Tobin’s from New Jersey, I’m from New York. We both go to UNC and we were in the city for a game against UCLA,”

“Damn. To think you coulda been on the other side of the country if it weren’t for this game,”

“What happened to your leg?” 

“I got shot,”

“Looks nasty. You stitch it up all by yourself?”

“I ran into a few people who helped me out. They’re on some crazy mission to find a cure,”

“Crazy?”

“You really think they can cure a whole city of whatever disease this is?”

“Hmm I see what you mean,”

“Nothing’s ever gonna be normal again after this,”

“So you’re just gonna wait it out here til you run out of food and water or your leg gets infected and you slowly die?”

“Pretty much. Those guys are on a suicide mission. They ain’t coming back,”

Alex downs her second bottle of beer.

“Do you know how many people have left me all alone? Just upped and left while I was in trouble. Heck I should be dead by now,”

“Hey you think you’ve had it bad. Try being the only two from your team to make it out of your hotel alive. We even watched one of our friends getting her intestines ripped out by one of those things,”

Tobin’s drops her eyes and she looks so downcast. ‘Maybe I don’t have it so bad’ Alex thinks to herself. 

“That sounds rough,”

“We’re just glad we’re alive,”

“Really? I mean what if all those people got lucky. No more pain, no more suffering, no having to live with the guilt of being a lone survivor. Can’t you see we have absolutely zero hope. All we’re doing is prolonging our lives. We’re all gonna die eventually. We can’t win,”

“Well for now we have more hope than anybody on the other side of those shutters. And you should probably ease up on the beer. Your young mind can’t handle it”

Allie snatches the bottle from Alex and chucks it across the room where it smashes against the shutters.

“Don’t you have a family to search for or someone you love?”

And then it dawns on Alex. Her reason to live is still out there somewhere. 

“Kelley,”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Julie we can see the lab. So far no sign of the Lawless. Just a bunch of guards and a lot of barbed wire. You think there’s still zombies in there?”

“Well they are trying to round them up aren’t they and I’d say that’s where they’re taking them,”

“Where did you even see The Lawless?”

“They crossed the bridge above us about an hour ago,”

“Wonder what they’re doing in the city. There’s nothing left here for them… Unless…”

A nudge from Ali knocks here out of her train of thought. 

“Look it’s Abby and Becky,”

Ashlyn turns her attention to the front entrance of the lab and sure enough Abby and Becky have just pulled up at the gate in their black jeep.

They put the window down and have a brief exchange with the soldiers placed on guard. The soldiers lift the barrier and they drive up the long driveway stopping right outside the front door before disappearing inside. 

“Wait, I know one of those guards. That’s Mitch. I went to high school with him,”

The soldier Ashlyn is talking about leans against the barrier and shares a joke with one of the other soldiers. 

A loud bang rings out across the area and Mitch crumples to the ground and goes limp.

“Well shit,”

Ashlyn and Ali remain in cover while a series of shots are fired from the rooftops of several buildings in the street opposite the lab. The soldiers at the gate exchange fire but their opposition is too much and they drop like flies. 

Once the last guard hits the ground the intruders leave their cover and approach the gate with their guard up ready to shoot down any survivors. 

The leader of the group lifts the barrier and Ashlyn catches a glimpse of her face. 

“Lauren Holiday. No way,”

“Julie The Lawless just made an appearance,”

“Yeah we saw that. You want backup? We can get there in 45,”

“I suppose you saw Abby and Becky go in too? Shit’s about to go down. You might be too late by the time you get here. Thanks for everything you two. You can go back to your garage now,”

“Ashlyn…”

“Julie you’ve been a massive help to us. Now I need you to go home,”

“Ok. Take care you two,”

Ashlyn tucks the radio into her jacket pocket and unholsters her glock.

“Ali you don’t have to come with me,”

“Ashlyn you aren’t going alone,”

Ashlyn looks Ali straight in the eye and lightly caresses her cheek.

“I don’t want you getting hurt Ali. I’ve hurt you enough already,”

Ali shakes her head and takes hold of Ashlyn’s hand against her cheek.

“Ashlyn stop dwelling on the past. We’ve been through a lot together but that’s why we’re gonna survive this. You and I, nothing can tear us apart. Besides you aren’t even the one who should be apologising. I’ve been a bitch to you since this all started. But we’re still here. You and I. I’m with you til the end,”

Ashlyn wants to lean in and kiss her but something cold and hard presses against her back.

“Drop your gun Ashlyn,”

Ashlyn places her glock on the ground and raises her hands behind her head.

“Now turn around,”

Ashlyn and Ali slowly turn around and Ashlyn’s jaw drops.

“Hope,”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Alex where are you going?”

Alex is strapping a katana to her back and the kukri to her waist. She opens the shutters and steps out into the warm Californian air. 

“I’m gonna find my friends,”

“Alex you can barely walk!”

Alex shrugs.

“Tobin can’t talk. Did that stop her?”

Tobin smiles and her eyes plead with Allie.

“Oh come on you two this is crazy!”

Tobin steps out of the garage and stands by Alex’s side. 

Allie shakes her head.

“Alex what are you doing?”

A wave of defiance crosses Alex’s face.

“You said it yourself Allie I have someone I love to search for. Now come on, are you coming or not?”

Allies lets out a frustrated sigh and takes the saber off the wall and then the two throwing knives which she hands to Tobin when she gets outside. 

“Let’s go kick some ass,”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“She hasn’t slept for days, or eaten anything and she won’t speak to any of us,”

Dom and Sydney sit on the couch watching Kelley who has been staring aimlessly out of the window for hours.

“What are we going to do Dom?”

“I don’t know,”

But then Kelley turns away from the window and rushes to the door. Sydney grabs her arm before she can get out.

“Kelley where the heck are you going?”

There is a fire in Kelley’s eyes that has been missing for the past few hellish days.

“I think I saw Alex Syd! Down in the street below. It was definitely her. We have to go!”

Sydney keeps a tight grip on her arm. 

“Kelley it’s not safe,” she hisses. 

Kelley pushes her off and steps through the doorframe. 

“Why don’t you stay here with your loser boyfriend and I’ll go save Alex cause I’m the only one that cares!”

“Kelley!”

Sydney tries to grab her again but she is already out the door and racing down the stairs. 

Sydney stands in the doorway too shocked too move, but then Dom joins her and they race down the stairs followed by Servando and the other two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of Krashlyn <3


	9. Showdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're all prepared...

Kelley races out into the street not caring that it could be filled with zombies or bandits. 

“Alex!”

She rushes up to the brown-haired girl standing in the middle of the road with her back turned to her. 

But when the girl turns around it is not Alex. It’s a zombie and she’s heading right for Kelley.

“Kelley get down!”

Dom throws his shiv at the zombie’s body but it is not sharp enough to do any real damage, nor was he skilled enough at throwing it. 

The zombie tackles Kelley to the ground and she tries to hold it off as best she can. 

Dom and Sydney race to aid her but then more zombies start to rush the street. Dom searches around for anything they can use to defend themselves and his eyes land on a baseball bat inside one of the abandoned cars. He smashes the window with his elbow and grabs it.

“Sydney get inside! I’ll hold them off,”

“But Dom…”

“Just get inside!”

“I’m not leaving you!”

“You don’t get a choice,”

Dom shoves Sydney back towards the apartment building and Servando pulls her inside and slams the door before any zombies can get in. 

Dom swings at several zombies that come his way but they soon overpower him and he falls to the ground.

Kelley meanwhile grapples with the zombie on top of her bracing herself for the death blow. 

But it never comes. Instead the tip of a blade impales the zombie and stops inches away from her face. 

Kelley gulps as the sword is pulled out of the zombie. She pushes it off her and it rolls to her side. Then a hand reaches out to her and she looks up.

“Alex?”

“Kelley?”

Alex helps Kelley to her feet and pulls her into an emotional hug. With tears streaming down their faces they stare into each other’s eyes for ages lost in their own world together and forgetting all the drama going on around them. For a brief moment it is just the two of them. But then Allie’s voice brings them back.

“There’s still more zombie’s Alex! Help me and Tobin out here!”

Alex hands Kelley the katana, takes a deep breath and together they run into the swarm of zombies surrounding Dom.  
A lot of slashing and stabbing later and the four girl team of Alex, Kelley, Allie and Tobin finish the zombies off. 

Alex kneels down beside Dom who is worse for wear. Blood gushes from deep scratch marks on his chest and bites on his arms and legs.

“Dom?”

Dom grunts in response and Alex can tell by the way he is wheezing that things aren’t looking too good.

Alex takes his hand and lets him squeeze it as fresh tears roll down her face.

“Dom hang on. You’re gonna be ok,” she sniffs. 

Kelley drops to her knees on the other side of him looking distraught.

“Dom no,” she just about gets out. 

“L-look after S-Sydney for me. Don’t let anything happen to her,” Dom wheezes. 

“No Dom you’re not going anywhere. You hear me. You are NOT going anywhere,”

Alex rips off a part of her shirt and puts pressure on the wounds. 

“You’re gonna be ok,”

But as she does everything she can to stop the bleeding she looks right and sees the rise and fall of his chest stop. She sees the life leave his eyes and just like that he is gone.

“Dom? Dom?” Alex gives his body a shake and tilts his head towards her. 

“No Dom come back. Come back,” 

Alex chokes up and starts wailing over his limp body.

Kelley does the same on the other side.

“I’m so sorry Dom. I’m so sorry,” she whispers. 

Tobin’s hand reaches for Alex’s shoulder but she is inconsolable. 

They carry Dom’s body back to the top flat. 

Sydney breaks down, a sight Alex dreaded but she didn’t want to leave Dom in the streets and she felt it was only right to give Sydney one last chance to say goodbye. 

Kelley, Sydney and Alex lean on one another while Servando and the other two guys support each other. Tobin and Allie keep a lookout for any more trouble.

Their hearts are broken. They are worn out and tired. But the apocalypse isn’t over yet. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Dr Reynolds I have a couple of people who’d like to see you,”

“Did you get their names?”

“Abby Wambach and Becky Sauerbrunn,”

The scientist’s eyes widen and he almost drops the test tube he is holding. 

“Should I send them in,”

“Yes, yes send them in now,"

A couple of minutes later Abby and Becky walk through the door. 

“Abby, Becky. I was wondering when I’d see you again,” Dr Reynolds exclaims shaking both their hands. 

“Nice to see you too Dr. Now let’s get down to business,”

Abby hand him the viles and he doesn’t even look at them but just goes to a work surface and starts clearing a space.

“It’s blood from a couple of zombies we killed. We thought we could take a look at it and see if there’s any differences,”

“We’ve studied the DNA of the parasites but haven’t actually gotten onto the zombies yet. We’re trying to look for something that can kill the parasite, but it might still be beneficial to take a look at the zombies too”

Dr Reynolds sets up some apparatus on the work surface and pulls on a pair of latex gloves. But then a security guard bursts through the door panic written all over his face.

“Dr we’ve had a massive breach at the gate! They shot all the guards and they’re making their way up here right now!”

As if on cue the sound of gunshots can be heard from the floor below. 

“Glad you took our guns?” Abby snarls at the guard, the sarcasm dripping of her voice.

“It’s too late to grab them. Everyone get behind the work benches!” 

Abby, the guard and Dr Reynolds take cover while Becky locks the door to the lab.

“What are we going to do?” Abby hisses at Becky when she joins them behind the work benches. 

“I have scientists working in other labs!” Dr Reynolds cries at the pair.

Becky puts a finger to her lips prompting them to keep it down. 

“Call the cops, send for backup or something,”

“Becky there’s no service anymore!”

“Shit!” 

“We’re gonna have to take this into our own hands,”

Abby breaks from cover and bursts through the door with Becky right on her heels.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“What are you waiting for? Open the damn door,”

Hope wasn’t alone and she and Carli now take the rear while Ali and Ashlyn enter the labs.

They move quietly stepping over fallen bodies in the lobby. 

“Grab their guns. We stand more of a chance as a four,”

“Why are you doing this Hope?”

“Retribution,”

Ashlyn shakes her head, lifting a gun from the ground and heading for the stairs. 

“You’re only putting yourself in danger Hope,”

“Ashlyn we both got chucked out by our ‘sides’. We can’t have them coming out on top. We can make an alliance. If you two join us, we can grab the vaccine and run,”

“Why all this fighting Hope? Why not share the vaccine around? Why not try and cure these things?”

“You really think there’s enough to go around?” Hope sniggers, “God Ashlyn you are so blind! This isn’t about saving California. This is about surviving now. Your little plan isn’t going to work. Now you should be glad I’m giving you a choice,”

“Hey look at this,” 

They’ve reached the first floor and Ali is checking something out on the wall opposite them. 

“Shit. It’s some kind of explosive,”

“Then get the hell back from it!”

Ashlyn pulls Ali away.

“The hell are you planning Lauren?” Hope wonders to herself. 

But then footsteps are heard at the end of the corridor. Whitney walks around the corner and freezes when she sees them.

Hope points her gun at her and they stare at each other for a moment. Then Whitney takes off back the way she came and Hope fires a few shots missing Whitney and nicking the wall.

“Let’s go! Come on!”

Hope races down the corridor and after Whitney, with Carli not too far behind her. Ashlyn and Ali hold back, Ali still curious about the supposed explosive.

“It doesn’t seem to be set on a timer. Which means they must want to get out of the building before they blow it,”

“Well then we got to stop them. Come on!”

Ashlyn drags Ali down the corridor. 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“It’s not finished yet! It’ll be no good to you,”

Lauren holds the unfinished vaccine tightly in one hand while pressing her gun into the temple of the scientist she got it from with the other. 

“You must have a finished one around here somewhere,” Lauren growls.

“These things take time,”

“Looks like we’re leaving empty handed then boys. Deploy the last of the explosives and lets blow this place,”

Lauren bounds and gags the three scientists in the room and takes out a radio.

“Andrew have all the explosives been deployed in the city?”

“Yep,”

“Alright you know where to go. We’ll meet you there,”

“Ok let’s get going,” Lauren says to the rest of the guys in the lab. 

But just as she’s about to go to the door it opens and Hope steps in holding a gun to Whitney’s head. 

“Ah Lauren. Carli was telling me all about your little episode at the gas station,”

Lauren raises her gun and aims it at Hope. 

“Let her go Hope!”

“Now you see if you try to shoot me Lauren you risk killing Whitney,”

“Hmm I suppose you’re right,” Lauren begins to lower her gun.

“But there’s nothing stopping me shooting Carli,”

Lauren fires a shot at Carli’s chest and she goes down. 

The brief few seconds Hope loses her focus watching Carli crash to the floor is enough for Lauren and she lunges forward tackling Hope to the ground. Lauren lands punch after punch to Hope’s face while Whitney gets to her feet kicking her in the side. When Hope is beaten and bloody enough for their liking they round up the rest of the guys and run down the corridor. 

However as they turn the corner they bump into Ashlyn and Ali. 

They aim their guns at each other, neither side wanting to back down. 

“Give it up Ashlyn. There’s two of you and six of us!”

“We aren’t going anywhere!”

“I hate to break it to you Ash but that vaccine you’re working on is nowhere near done. Now stand down before I shoot you both,”

Then the slapping of feet against the ground can be heard behind Ashlyn and Ali as Abby, Becky, Dr Reynolds and the guard come running down the corridor behind them. 

Ashlyn keeps her eyes trained on Lauren.

Becky and Abby point the guns they took from some fallen guards at The Lawless. 

“It’s the end of the line Lauren. Turn yourself in,”

“Never,”

Lauren fires the first shot hitting Abby square in the chest. All hell breaks loose as shots are fired all over the place. Ashlyn charges at Lauren while Ali charges Whitney and what started as a firefight turns into a brawl. 

Soon Ashlyn and Lauren are the last ones standing with everyone else either out cold or dead on the ground. 

Ashlyn kicks Lauren off her and gets to her feet. They take a fighting stance, fists up ready to fight again. 

Ashlyn throws a few jabs but Lauren blocks them and throws a painful blow to Ashlyn’s kidney. Ashlyn quickly composes herself and grabs Lauren by the shoulders forcing her back against a wall. She lands a few punches to Lauren’s face but then Lauren finds a pressure point on Ashlyn’s neck and she recoils taking a few steps back. Lauren spears her and they go flying into a window which shatters on impact. Lauren holds Ashlyn down, whose head is hanging over the edge reminding her of the precarious drop below her. 

Ashlyn steals a glance at the ground below and her blood runs cold. It is a fenced off enclosure and it is filled with zombies…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I went MIA for a bit. This chapter was a bit longer and required a bit more thought


	10. Cooperation

“There’s a million ways you could die right now Ashlyn,” 

Lauren has her pinned down with nowhere to go. She lifts a shard of glass from the floor and holds it to her neck.

“I could slice you open. Or I could throw you to the zombies. They look rather hungry. Or…”

Lauren pauses for a moment in deliberation.

“Or I could tie you up with the rest of your friends and see what gets you first; the zombies or the explosion,”

“That’s just your problem though Holiday. You always talk too much,”

Strong hands yank Lauren off of Ashlyn. 

“God dammit Hope! You just don’t know when to die!” 

“You killed Carli and now I’m going to kill you,” Hope says, her voice full of ice.

The pair engage in a physical battle while Ashlyn goes to check on Ali who is knocked out on the ground beside Whitney. 

Hope has Lauren backing up closer and closer to the broken window and the drop. Then she lunges at her but Lauren grabs her and takes her over the edge with her. Ashlyn hears their screams and when she can no longer take it anymore she fires a couple of shots into the crowd of zombies and it all goes quiet. 

Ali stirs and Ashlyn rushes over to her.

“You ok?”

Ali nods and Ashlyn helps her up. They hug it out for a while, relief flooding their faces amongst warm, trickling tears.

Becky comes round too, along with Dr Reynolds and Whitney. 

Becky aims her gun at Whitney and squeezes on the trigger.

“Wait!”

Ashlyn orders her to stand down and she obliges. 

“We’ll spare your life if you disarm the bombs,”

Whitney shakes her head.

“Those aren’t the only bombs you should be worried about. Lauren wants to blow most of the city,”

Ashlyn's jaw drops wide open.

“What?”

“The difference between Lauren and you lot is she wants to kill all the infected. You want to cure them. Hope was taking things too slow for her liking. That’s why she abandoned her…”

“Enough rambling!” Ashlyn kicks her to the ground again. 

“Can you disarm the bombs or not?”

“I- I, Ashlyn I never wanted any of this. None of us could stop her. She was too strong. I was just trying to survive…”

“Answer me!”

Ashlyn elbows her in the gut and she winches in pain.

“I- I don’t know,” she whispers, the fear rising in her voice. 

“Who set the bombs in the city? Do they know?”

“Lauren had the radio. And she also had the detonators,”

Ashlyn’s face goes white.

“Shit if the zombies get a hold of that detonator…”

Ashlyn rushes to the edge. 

“We need to get rid of those zombies!”

“Here take this,”

Ali throws her a gun.

“We can’t just shoot them! Aren’t they the first batch that are gonna be cured?”

Dr Reynolds nods.

“But Ashlyn there is no cure!”

“We’re getting closer to it,”

Dr Reynolds joins Ashlyn and lowers her gun. 

“Give me two weeks and I’ll have it finished,”

“Bullshit! It’ll take longer than that!”

“Ali will you just shut up a second! There is still a chance we can bring these people back!”

“Use the knockout gas,” 

Everyone looks at Becky. 

“Dr Reynolds do you know where it is?”

Dr Reynolds rushes down the corridor.

Ashlyn glances down at the pack of zombies and grimaces when she sees Hope and Lauren’s bodies. 

Thirty seconds later Dr Reynolds is back.

“Everyone stand back!”

He drops a canister into the swarm and after twenty seconds every zombie is out cold. 

“Here put this on,”

He hands Ashlyn a gas mask and she steps onto a ledge on the wall. Then she drops down until she is hanging off the ledge by her hands. Finally she drops and her feet hit the ground with a thud. She rushes over to Lauren trying her best to avert her eyes from the fresh wounds. After about thirty seconds of rummaging through her clothes she finds the detonator and the radio.

“I’ll climb over the fence and meet you guys round the front!”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Alex?”

Julie and Christen look round the empty garage searching for Alex. 

“She must’ve left,”

“Yeah and she decided to take the rest of my sword collection with her,” Julie grunts. 

“Oh God. Look at all these empty bottles. Poor girl’s out there somewhere piss drunk,”

“Hmm well. There’s not much we can do. How do you think Ashlyn and Ali are getting on?”

“I don’t know. You have the radio. Check up on them,”

Julie takes out her radio while Christen starts to clean up the mess Alex left.

“Ashlyn, Ali? You there?”

“Julie?”

“Hey Ali. You guys ok? What the hell happened down there at the lab?”

“We’re fine. Have you seen any more of The Lawless lurking around the city?”

“No, just that time we saw them go over the bridge. Why do you ask?”

“Cause they’re gonna blow the city,”

“What?”

“Lauren had the detonator. We’re tryna figure out if we can use it to disable the bombs in the lab,”

“Where’s Lauren now? Did she get away?”

“She’s dead,”

“Oh,”

“We’re gonna try and get a hold of the rest of The Lawless and convince them to disarm the bombs in the city,”

“How the hell are you gonna do that?”

“We have hostages and we have you two. You’re gonna keep an eye on the city surveillance systems and watch their every move,”

“Um ok. We can do that,”

“Is Alex with you?”

“Nah she wasn’t here when we got back,”

“Shit. Well just leave her. She’s on her own now,”

“Sure,”

“Alright I gotta go,”

“Please promise me you guys will pull this off,”

“When have we ever failed you Julie?”

Then it goes quiet on the other end.

“Christen get a move on. We’ve got some spying to do…”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Hey guys check this out,”

Alex and Sydney walk over to the window where Kelley is peering out.

“Look it’s other survivors,”

Sure enough there are a bunch of men and women standing by a van on the street below. One of them is talking into to radio, appearing to be pretty angry about something.

“Wait is that a gun?”

They look closer and sure enough most of the group are armed. 

“Get back before they see you. They could be bandits,”

Alex pulls them away from the window and draws the curtains. 

“How much longer are we gonna sit up here?” Servando asks them through a magazine he has been reading for the past thirty minutes. 

Alex joins him on the couch and lowers the magazine so she can see his face.

“I know you’re hurting Serv. But we will get through this. I promise,”

“I just can’t take any more deaths,”

“There doesn't have to be any more deaths,”

Alex brushes the tears off his face. 

“You just gotta be strong, ok?”

Servando nods and the silence resumes.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“What’s the hold up Lauren? The lab bombs should’ve gone off about fifteen minutes ago,”

“Lauren come in. Lauren do you read me? Lauren?”

“Alright listen up very carefully. We’ve disabled all your little bombs at the lab. Now I want you to do the same around the city,”

“Who is this?” 

“It’s your favourite Paragon. Now you and I both know this isn’t what you really want. Disable the bombs and noone gets hurt,”

“You can’t stop us blowing the city. So I suggest you get out of here fast!”

“You don’t get it do you? There is a cure. We can save the city. Don’t you want things to go back to normal?”

“You’re insane!”

“Look if you aren’t willing to cooperate I might have to kill a few of your friends. Each bang is another life taken. Do you really want that?”

“You’re lying!”

BANG!

“One down,”

“Let them go!”

“Disable the bombs,”

“Fine!” 

“When you’re done meet us at the lab and we can talk this through,”

“How do I know you’ll keep your word on my people?”

“Because I only kill when necessary,”

“Oh and I have plenty of eyes on you watching your every move. So don’t even think about bailing. You have until 12pm. That’s two hours. Better get a move on,”

Ashlyn drops the radio and smirks at the bullet hole in the wall.

“Very clever,” Ali grins at her.

“Let’s hope we see them in two hours,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Literally making this up as I go along now lol


	11. All together now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait

“They’re at the lab Julie,”

Christen has The Lawless up on the screen as they make their way up the long driveway towards the lab.

“What? Already? Did they disarm a single bomb?”

“No,”

“It could be a trap Christen,”

“We gotta warn Ali and Ashlyn!”

Julie grabs her radio and hits the button to turn it on, but it doesn’t respond. 

“Damn it’s dead!” 

Julie smashes the radio off the table in a fit of anger, crushing it completely. 

“Aw shit,” she whimpers.

“Hey calm down. It’ll be ok,”

Christen pulls Julie into her and rubs her back, forming little circles with her hands. 

“Everything’s going to be ok,”

Julie presses her lips against the green-eyed brunette’s forehead and holds her close.

“Promise me one thing Christen,”

“Anything babe,”

“Promise me you’ll never leave my side. Not even for one second,”

“I promise,”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Here look it’s them,”

Becky points out of the window at the van crawling up the driveway. 

“Alright arm yourselves and let’s go meet these low lifes,”

“Move,” 

Ali prods Whitney with her gun and they move towards the bottom floor. 

Lead by Ashlyn they stroll through the front door, guns raised and at the ready.

Four men and one woman step out of the van and glare at the armed group before them.

“Weapons on the ground now!” Ashlyn yells at them.

“Yours too!” one of the men responds defiantly. 

“You first,” Ashlyn’s icy voice ripples through the air. 

Guns clatter to the ground until it is just the man who spoke who holds his gun tightly. He glares at his companions but they stand their ground. 

“Go on,”

He stands a while longer before letting his gun drop to the ground. 

“Good,”

“Hey we dropped ours. Now it’s your turn,”

Ashlyn signals to everyone and they reluctantly give up their weapons. 

“So now we’ve that sorted, did you keep your part of the deal?”

“The bombs are deactivated,” 

“That quickly?”

The man reaches in his pocket and Ashlyn reaches for her gun, but he puts a hand up to stop her.

“Wait!”

He brings his hand back out into the open with some sort of electronic device with switches on it.

“This detonator controls the bombs. We’ve deactivated every single one in the city,”

“But you can activate them anytime?”

“Correct. And this is the part where I make you a deal. I expected there to be more of my people alive, but we will take the remaining one and I am offering you to come with us as well,”

“Where?”

“Texas,”

“And then what?”

Ashlyn already knows the answer and it leaves her feeling like there’s a bowling ball pressing down on her chest.

“Then we flick this little switch,”

“No,”

“I’m giving you a choice Ashlyn. Don’t screw this up for you and your friends,”

“Why are you doing this?”

“What else can we do Ashlyn?”

“Give us two weeks and we can save the city,”

“That’s impossible!”

“Trust us we have a plan…”

“You’re deluded,”

“Please…”

BANG!

The man brings a hand to his blood-soaked shirt and crumbles to his knees. One more look at Ashlyn and he falls to the ground. 

“Nobody else move or you join him!” 

Ali points a handgun at the remaining Lawless who raise their hands in defeat.

Ashlyn stares wide-eyed at her brown-eyed girlfriend. 

“Haven’t you heard of negotiating?”

“Yeah well you were taking way too long,”

“Now what?” Becky huffs out.

“Now this lot are going to remove every single bomb they planted in the city and we’re going to go along watching their every move. Then we meet up with Julie and Christen, finish this damn cure and bring this city back to life,”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ashlyn exclaims, wrapping her arm around the older woman.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

Tap Tap Tap

Tap Tap Tap

Tap Tap Tap

“Babe do you hear that?”

“Hmmm. Five more minutes…”

“Julie wake up!” 

Julie opens her eyes to a firm stare from Christen.

“What?”

Tap Tap Tap

“That,”

Julie rolls off the mattress and walks to the shutters.

“Who is it?”

“Julie we’re back!”

“Ashlyn!” 

“Yeah now hurry up and let us in!”

Julie immediately opens the shutters and lets them in. Six of the people she doesn’t recognise and she gives Ashlyn a face full of confusion. 

“Uh who are they?”

“We’re all together now,”

“So um I take it your mission was successful?”

“Yes. But that’s only the start. Pack your stuff. We’re all going to the lab,”

Julie furrows her eyebrows in speculation. 

“Why?”

“Because it’s better if we all stick together. I don’t like this splitting up business,”

“Ok, well I don’t like all this moving around,” 

“It’ll be the last time I promise,” 

“You have a plan?”

“Yes. Now come on,”

Julie feels a tug on her sleeve. 

“Come on JJ. Let’s just go for it,” 

If there’s anyone that Julie will always side with it’s Christen. So she starts bundling all the important stuff into a backpack and they are out of the garage in less than five minutes. 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Hurry up Alex! I’m getting nervous,”

Alex crams a few bars of chocolate and a multipack of chips into a plastic bag and they sneak out of the tiny shop onto the street. 

“Was the chocolate and chips really necessary?”

“Oh come on KO. Don’t pretend you didn’t miss it,”

Kelley giggles and pulls the azure eyed teen into her. 

“Kiss me?”

“A minute ago you were scared for your life and now you want to kiss me in the middle of a street where zombies could pounce at any moment?”

“I don’t need to be scared when you’re around,”

Kelley runs her fingers down the sheath of the kukri at Alex’s hip.

“A sexy blade to match a sexy girl,”

“Stop Kelley…” Alex giggles, a blush reddening her cheeks. 

Kelley’s lips crash into Alex’s and the tall brunette kisses her back. 

“I missed this so much,” Kelley whispers into Alex’s ear when they pause for breath. 

Kelley pushes Alex across the street against a wall and locks their lips together again. She picks the younger girl up and in return Alex wraps her legs around her waist. 

“I forgot how strong you are,”

“We should go somewhere quiet…”

HONK!

The pair jump and Kelley almost drops Alex. Alex stares over Kelley’s shoulder and there are two cars stopped on the road, their occupants staring right at them…

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

The group of ten split up into two cars. Julie, Christen, Becky and two of The Lawless in a black jeep and Ali, Ashlyn, Whitney and the other two Lawless members in the pickup. 

They trundle through a few narrow streets until they turn onto a bigger one. Ali drives straight through an empty junction, weaving around a couple of crashed cars. 

“Stop. I think I saw something,”

Ali reverses back into the middle of the junction and stops the car. 

“There,”

She follows Ashlyn’s finger and her eyes land on two girls pressed up against a wall sharing a vehement kiss.

“Uh Ashlyn don’t you think this is kinda awkward?”

“No Ali! She looks familiar. I think thats Al…”

HONK!

The jeep behind loudly toots it’s horn startling the pair. 

The girl on the inside’s eyes flick wide open and stare straight at Ashlyn and Ali. 

“Oh my God!”

The unforgettable blue confirms it for Ashlyn. 

“It’s Alex!”

Ashlyn jumps out of the car and races towards her. She pushes past the other girl and wraps her in an unrelenting hug.

“You idiot! We told you to stay inside!”

“I-I thought you weren’t coming back!” 

“Excuse me!”

Ashlyn is hauled off of Alex and comes face to face with a stern-looking, hazel-eyed girl.

“Stay the fuck away from my girlfriend!”

By now Ali has joined them and she shoves the girl away from Ashlyn.

“How about you stay the fuck away from my girlfriend!”

Alex and Ashlyn get between them before a fight breaks out.

“Kelley calm down! This is Ashlyn. She’s the one that saved my life,”

Kelley unclenches her fists and inspects Ashlyn. 

“Oh,”

She crosses her arms still refusing to look at Ali. 

“Sorry about that,” Alex apologises on her behalf, “This is Kelley- my girlfriend,”

“Ah Kelley nice to meet you,” Ashlyn chirps, extending a hand, “This is my girlfriend Ali,”

Kelley finally acknowledges Ali, this time politely, with a simple nod and brief slapping of hands. 

“So um what are you guys up to?” Alex asks.

“We’re going to the l…”

“ZOMBIES!”

Ashlyn looks behind her and sure enough a large swarm of zombies are running down the opposite end of the junction towards them.

“Oh no it’s runners! Everybody find cover!”

One of the backseat occupants of the pickup scrambles into the front and hits the gas, launching the car out of sight and out of danger. The black jeep follows behind. 

“Go to the lab Julie!” Ashlyn screams before she is out of earshot. 

“This way!”

Alex grabs Ashlyn’s arm and pulls her towards the apartment entrance. They hurry inside but a couple of zombies wedge themselves between the door. 

“You guys go! I’ll hold them off!” Alex hollers, pressing her body against the door. 

“No Al!” 

Kelley tugs at her girlfriend but Ali pushes her aside.

“Don’t! You’ll let them in!”

“Get out of my way bitch!”

“You two stop! Everyone get against the door! We can squeeze it shut together!”

Ashlyn shoves the two bickering girls towards the door and they push with all their might until it clicks shut. She quickly locks it and they fall down with their backs against the door. 

“Phew that was a close one,”

“Alex you could’ve got yourself killed!”

Kelley towers over her girlfriend, arms folded, scowl on her face.

“Yeah well I didn’t and…”

Alex’s face goes white.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Her scream echoes off the wall.

“There’s a bug on my leg!”


	12. Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while but I'm back! Life kinda took over but I hope to take this fanfic all the way to the end even if it takes a while.

“Get it off! Get it off!” 

Alex flails around trying to flick the thing off her leg. 

“Alex stop moving! Stay still!”

Ashlyn grabs Alex by the shoulders and holds her tight keeping careful watch of the cockroach-like bug slowly crawling up her trembling leg.

“Ok let’s work together. Kelley you nudge it off with your sword and Ali you crush it with your boot,”

“And get disease ridden bug guts all over my soul?” Ali snarks sceptically. 

“We’re in an apartment block Ali. I’m sure there’s shoes in one of these flats. Alright one, two, three…”

FLICK! SPLAT!

The group flinches at the sound of shell crunching under boot. Ali moves her foot away, revealing some of the guts of the creature stuck to the floor. 

“Gross,”

“Come on let’s get upstairs,”

Click, Click, Click

“What the hell was that?”

CLICK CLICK CLICK

“Aw shit…”

Kelley turns around trying understand the fear in Alex’s voice. In front of her is a large swarm of blue and red bugs by the door.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK!

“Run!”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“They’re back,”

Servando walks to the door just as it’s winged open, knocking him back against the wall. Tobin and Allie jump to their feet, weapons raised.

“Stand down!” Ali howls at them, drawing her gun and aiming it at Tobin while Ashlyn trains hers on Allie. 

“Ali wait…”

“Oooooomphh,”

Servando emerges from behind the door, wrapping his arms around Ali and attempting to dislodge the weapon from her hand. A bullet skims past Tobin’s ear while the two fight for control. Ali swings the younger boy against the wall and wriggles out of his grip. Servando squeaks as a forearm slams into his windpipe. 

“Ali stop!” 

Alex tries to pull the gung-ho woman off her friend, only to be tossed against a shelf hitting her head on a glass ashtray on the way down. 

“Ali that’s enough!” 

It takes the barrel of Ashlyn’s gun pressing into her back for Ali to stop lashing out. 

“He attacked me Ash,”

Ashlyn spins her around and this time Ali’s back hits the wall with Ashlyn holding her there. 

“Can you just stop being so reckless!” 

Ali’s insides shudder as the rage emanating from Ashlyn’s body radiates over her. 

“I’m sorry A…”

“No! No you’re not sorry!”

Ashlyn lets her go and storms away. 

“Ashlyn come on! I mean it,”

“Then show me you do,” Ashlyn snaps. 

Kelley bends down beside Alex taking her face in her hands. Alex’s eye’s express a fear Kelley has never seen before. She traces her finger over a nasty gash on the former forward’s forehead. 

“Jesus,”

A few tears roll down Alex’s face that Kelley puts down to fear more than pain. She brushes them away only to smear Alex’s face with more blood. 

“Come on let’s get you cleaned up,” 

Kelley helps her up and glares over her shoulder at Ali who meets it with empty eyes. 

“You ok?”

Kelley rubs the wound clean and starts to wrap a bandage around it. 

“I’m just so sick of all this fighting,”

“It’s ok. It’ll end soon,” Kelley says softly, kissing the brunette’s forehead, “I promise,” 

“So what now?”

Once everything has been cleaned up between Ashlyn and Ali and their new companions, Allie takes charge, gathering everyone together to propose a plan. 

“What the hell are we even trying to do again?”

Ali sits on the arm of the chair Ashlyn sits in glaring sceptically at the blonde college student standing opposite her. Ashlyn rises from her chair and joins Allie. 

“We’re gonna gather up all the zombies and give them the cure,”

“And how are you gonna manage that?”

“I’ll get to that,”

“And the bugs?”

“Ali we can’t just jump into everything. We need to think this through,”

“You’ve been thinking this through for months!”

“Well I don’t see you helping much!”

“Enough!”

Allie’s voice cuts the air in half and the room falls silent. 

“This cure you’re working on Ashlyn, how long is it gonna take til it’s finished?”

“A couple weeks maybe,”

“And how likely is it it’ll work?”

“More likely than last time,”

Allie smiles wryly, before exchanging looks with Tobin.

“Well we might just have something that’ll help,”

“You do?”

“Yeah. This one’s immune. You could replicate her DNA and we could inject ourselves with it. And that’ll make it a lot easier to round up the zombies and exterminate the parasites without getting infected…”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Dammit the labs are that way and Whitney just took a right turn there! They’re getting away!”

“And what are they going to do Julie? They have no detonators remember? Chances are they’ll just flee the city and nothing more,”  
“Follow them,” one of the Lawless from the back demands.

“Shut up or I’ll chuck you out,” Becky hisses at him. 

The man exchanges looks with his friend who lunges at Julie in the driver’s seat while he goes for Becky.

“Hey let go of me, you’re gonna crash the car!”

Julie keeps one hand on the wheel and launches her elbow towards the man’s face. He gets a hold of the wheel and they fight for control while Christen tries to pull the man off.

The car veers from side to side before spinning off the road completely and smashing through the front of a fast food shop. 

The man fighting with Julie is thrown through the windscreen, while Julie knocks herself out on the steering wheel. 

The place goes silent…

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“I told Julie to meet us at the labs,”

“Well nobody’s showed up here since you left,”

Dr Reynolds ushers the group into one of the big fancy labs. Ali pulls Ashlyn to the side to set the record straight.

“Forget about them Ashlyn. If they wanna bail, let them,”

“I thought they’d stay,”

“Well you thought wrong. Now come on,”

“Ok so who’s the one I need to test?” Dr Reynolds asks.

“Tobin,”

Tobin steps forward nervously.

“Ok all you have to do is rinse this salt water solution around your mouth to extract some cheek cells and I’ll take the rest from there,”

Tobin’s face relaxes at the simplicity of the procedure. Dr Reynolds fills a plastic cup with water and adds some salt. After stirring it for a while he hands it to Tobin who takes a swig, swirls it round her gums and spits it back into the cup. Dr Reynolds then takes the cup and pours it into another solution. 

“Alright I’ll have this analysed by tomorrow morning. You lot take a break. You look like you could use one…”


	13. Thanks for your help...

“Julie, Julie are you ok?”

Christen undoes her seatbelt and reaches over to Julie giving her limp body a light shake. 

“Julie come on, wake up,”

A salty tear rolls down her solemn face as fear and panic creeps into her cracking voice. 

“Wake up,”

She shakes her some more to no avail. Then she slumps back in her seat a small whimper escaping her lips as her back hits the leather. She has whiplash for sure. 

Then she feels something warm and viscous running down her right arm. Sure enough on further inspection she discovers it is blood tricking from a nasty open wound just below the crease in her elbow. A shard of glass penetrates the skin causing her vision to blur as she goes faint at the sight. She knows better than to pull it out but it’s taking all her strength to stop her trembling fingers from doing otherwise. 

Her eyes fall upon the older man’s body pressed up against the service counter, gone for sure. Then a hand clamps down on her shoulder and she shudders, backing away her heart racing. 

“Hey it’s only me,” Becky soothes in a quiet, worn out voice. 

Christen’s shoulders drop as her trembling frame relaxes. The man who was in the backseats with Becky is out cold keeping them free from danger for the time being. But then with a heavy heart Christen is reminded of the women passed out next to her and the panic returns once more.

“She’s not responding!”

Becky awkwardly arranges herself so she is in-between the two front seats, close enough to comfort Christen and check on Julie. She pulls Julie back from the steering wheel and holds her upright against the back of her seat. A large gash runs it’s way from her temple half way across her forehead soaking her face and hair in blood. 

Becky can see the rise and fall of her chest indicating that she is still very much alive. She takes Christen’s hand and gives it a soft, reassuring squeeze. 

“She’ll be alright, I promise. We just gotta get out of here and get her cleaned up,”

Christen just stares blankly at her, still as a statue. 

“It’s not safe here Christen,” 

Christen’s face hardens and her green eyes confront Becky. 

“How do I know I can trust you?”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“I’m sorry about your head,”

Ali joins Alex by a water fountain in the lounge they’ve been chilling in while they await the results of Tobin’s DNA test. Alex pours herself a cup of water shunning the older woman next to her.

Ali shakes her head and turns away from the teen only to be confronted by Ashlyn. Sure that her lover is mad at her Ali brushes past her only to be held back. 

“Come on I found a coffee machine. Thought you might want a cup,”

Ali searches Ashlyn’s caramel orbs for any sign of resentment but finds nothing. 

“You aren’t mad at me?”

Ashlyn takes Ali’s arm and leads her in the direction of the coffee machine. 

“I figured it’s best if we just got along. I’m sick of all this falling out. It’s not doing us any favours,”

“Wish we were all like that,”

Ali nods at Alex who is walking back to a couch and Tobin with two cups of water, one in each hand. 

“Just leave it. Teens are overly sensitive people,”

———————

“Hey I brought you some water,”

Tobin nods her head in thanks to Alex. She takes a long sip, grateful for the cool relief against her dry throat.

Alex picks up on the pad of paper on Tobin’s lap. 

“Whatcha working on?”

She reaches for the pad eager for a closer look at Tobin’s artwork but Tobin pulls it away shaking her head. 

“Hey it looked good. Please can I see it?”

Tobin slowly moves her hand away from the artwork revealing a detailed portrait of a girl, but not just any girl- Alex.

“Oh,”

Tobin drops her head and avoids Alex’s wide azure eyes which she’d captured so magnificently in her drawing. 

Alex studies the work, amazed by each careful stroke of lead and the amount of detail Tobin put into it- the many strands of hair, the shading of different parts of her face, the laugh lines either side of her lips, the thoughtful gaze in her eyes. 

“Wow,”

Tobin lifts her head and a small smile tugs at her chapped lips. 

“You’re really talented,”

Tobin flicks the page and scribbles something on a fresh piece of paper.

I WAS BORED

Alex takes a breath and steals another glance at the drawing. Tobin, meanwhile, jots another message on the page. 

I CAN THROW IT AWAY IF YOU WANT

Alex looks at Tobin with a face full of shock.

“Why would you do that?”

YOU DON’T HAVE TO PRETEND TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH ME DRAWING YOU

“Well I mean, um…” Alex trails off unsure of what to say.

I’M SORRY FOR MAKING THINGS AWKWARD

Just at this moment Kelley wonders up behind Alex peering over the younger girl’s shoulder. 

“What you two doing?”

Tobin quickly snaps shut the notebook and glances at Alex.

“Nothing. You wanna cup of water? It’s important you stay hydrated,” 

Alex stands up from the couch sharing one last nervous glance with Tobin before walking over to the water fountain once more and grabbing a plastic cup to fill up for her girlfriend. Kelley follows but not before narrowing her eyes and shooting Tobin a defiant stare. 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Why wouldn’t you trust me? It’s not like I’ve tried to kill you and if I did, trust me, I would’ve done it by now- I’m not one for games,”

“It’s just I hardly know you,”

“Well we have all the time in the world to get to know each other. Just not here. There could be anything lurking near by and these things could well be attracted to noise which that crash made a lot of,”

And just like that the sound of glass cracking under foot at the front of the shop startles them. 

Becky presses a finger to her lips while Christen glances in the wing mirror. Sure enough a zombie stalks towards them stopping for a while to sniff the air. 

“Play dead,” Becky whispers. 

Christen glares at her sceptically.  
“Just trust me,” Becky pleads closing her eyes and quietly leaning back into the backseats. 

Christen does the same, leaning her head against the shattered window trying to ignore the crunched up glass digging into her cheek. 

She hears the footsteps grow closer and tries to hold in her breath as best she can. Then it stops right outside her door. She can feel it’s presence. Then she feels long fingernails trace across her face and she contemplates dropping her act and running the other way. But a moan from somewhere outside the vehicle stops the zombie in it’s tracks. It keeps its grimy hand on her face for a bit and sniffs the air. Then it starts to shuffle away. 

“Please h-help me…”

Christen opens her eyes. The man who flew through the windscreen- how is he still alive?- cries out to the approaching zombie, evidently unaware it isn’t somebody who can save him.

Christen watches his eyes widen when he realises what’s coming for him.

“No please no,”

Then the zombie attacks.

“Aaaaaaaaaahhh!!”

This is their cue.

“Come on!”

This time it is Christen forcing Becky to move. 

They unbuckle Julie and Becky jumps out the door first before picking up Julie in her arms. They run as fast as their legs can take them through the open streets, unaware of what may or may not be following them. They just run, hoping Becky’s arms will hold up with Julie in them and their legs will take them to shelter…

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Results are in,” Dr Reynolds chirps in an announcer style voice as he walks into the lounge at 9:30 the following morning. 

Kelley and Alex lie asleep together huddled up on one of the couches with Tobin watching them with sad eyes from afar. 

Allie raids a fridge in the kitchen while Ashlyn and Ali have a discussion about something over coffee. Servando and his friend lose themselves in a game of cards while Sydney is in another place, her broken, sullen eyes focused on nothing in particular, her heavy heart beating with no purpose. 

Tobin is the first to respond, approaching Dr Reynolds expectantly. Dr Reynolds decides to begin without the rest.

“Well Tobin it appears your body has rejected the virus that these parasites seem to be spreading around the city. This could be very helpful in our quest for a vaccine but as I’m sure you know these things don’t happen overnight,”

“So what happens now,”

Ashlyn walks up to them an inquisitive if not slightly anxious look on her face.

Dr Reynolds stalls slightly, averting her gaze before he finally musters the courage to speak. 

“I’ve been in contact with the military. We really appreciate all your help but we think it’s best we take it from here. We’re transferring you all to one of the camps outside the city. You’ll be safe there until we clear the city,”

Right on cue the doors open and the room fills with soldiers. 

“I know how much you want to help Ashlyn but we can take it from here. It’s time for you to go. Please don’t resist,”

“Like hell I won’t,” Ashlyn responds defiantly, throwing out her elbow and fracturing the eye socket of the first soldier who tries to detain her.


	14. Safe Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a brief update

Alex opens her eyes to Kelley struggling against two soldiers, Ashlyn and Ali kicking some more soldier’s butts and Servando, Sydney, Allie and Tobin watching the whole thing in the background with flabbergasted expressions on their faces. 

“Stay away from her!” Kelley shrieks at the top of her voice, trying to twist her wrist free from the soldier who has her half restrained. 

Alex sits up in a daze and rubs the sleep from her eyes. Is she dreaming?

Ashlyn and Ali are eventually overcome by soldiers and detained with their hands tied behind their backs. 

“You’re a right asshole aren’t you Renolds!”

Alex has never seen the blonde as angry. 

“Don’t make this anymore difficult for yourself Ashlyn,” There an undertone of venom behind his words. 

“Screw you!”

Meanwhile Kelley has also been detained and lies face down with her wrists in zip ties behind her back. This snaps Alex out of her sleepy oblivion and she truly begins to panic.

“W-whats going on?”

“It’s nothing to be worried about. We just need you to come with us,” A young, clean-cut soldier barks. 

He grabs Alex’s arm and pulls her roughly off the couch. 

“If it’s nothing to worry about then why are my friends tied up like that?” Alex growls

“Just don’t resist ok. We’ve already had enough trouble from this one,” The guard motions to Kelley who is on her feet now still struggling against the two man hold. 

The group are marched out of the building and split up into two military style Rovers. With Alex by her side Kelley’s protests die down and the entire Rover sits in silence the whole journey. However in the other car Ashlyn makes no attempts at backing down resulting in a gag being shoved in her mouth and a bag over her head. 

“Mmnnhnhnmhmhhh!” 

Ashlyn still doesn’t shut up and eventually one of the guards fills her veins with knockout serum. Ali watches the whole thing go down with sad a shake of her head. If only her girlfriend could control her temper. 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Get out,”

After a couple of hours of travelling the Rovers stop and the prisoners step out. 

“Holy shit,” Ali whispers under her breath. 

In front them are endless fields filled with tents and bustling with people. Normal people. Not a zombie in sight. But lots of military. Armed soldiers patrol every other cluster of tents looking for any sign of trouble. 

The group get a few stares as they are lead further into the newfound survivor community.

“So this is where they evacuated everyone to,” Ali gasps. 

Children and their parents watch as they walk by and Alex wonders what is going through their heads. What are their stories?

“Take this one to medical and set the rest up with tents in the bottom field. Oh and keep this one bound and gagged even when she wakes up. If she tries any of her tricks we have orders to shoot her,” An older, senior soldier orders his inferiors making reference to Alex who is still limping slightly and Ashlyn who is still conked out in one of the soldier’s arms. 

Alex noticing that Kelley is about to blow at their due separation holds back and raises her hand.

“Wait! Can my friend please come with me?”

The senior soldier ignores her and starts off in a new direction.

“Please,” Alex pleads with the soldier by her side, using the same tone and look she uses with her mom when she wants something. 

The soldier exchanges looks with the one who has Kelley restrained.

“Don’t see the harm in it. Just so long as noone finds out,”

Kelley doesn’t give them second thought as she rushes over to Alex, grabbing hold of her arm and holding on for dear life. 

The two groups part ways with Alex’s group headed to the field on the right and Ashlyn’s the furthest one straight ahead. 

“Friend? Seriously?” Kelley hisses in Alex’s ear.

“I was protecting you,” Alex whispers back. 

"Oh really? And you're sure this has nothing to do with that mute girl you were talking to yesterday?"

"What?" Alex gasps in denial. 

"I saw the way she was looking at you Alex,"

Alex starts to tense up. Kelley never uses her name like that, not unless she's in trouble.

"Kelley it's nothing,"

“Or maybe you’re having second thoughts? Are you still stuck in the middle Alex? Is that it?”

Alex can't believe what's she's hearing. Why is Kelley so mad at her? What could she have possibly done to set her freckle faced girl off now?

“What?”

“Oh don’t be stupid Alex. You’ve never been sure of your sexuality,”

Seriously?

“Will you keep it down!” Alex scolds.

“What you can’t deal with people knowing that you’re gay!”

By now the pair have stopped in their tracks and stand face to face in an increasingly heated argument.

“No! No it’s, it’s not that Kelley…”

“Then what is it? Why have you been acting so distant lately?”

Alex ends eye contact just as their guards intervene. 

“Something the matter ladies?”

Kelley glares at Alex who keeps her eyes on the mucky terrain below. 

The two are once again detained and shoved forward again.

“We’ll talk about this again later. I’m not letting this go…” Kelley mutters under her breath. 

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

 

“That’s it, we’re going to the medical tent!”

A medium height, dirty blonde, middle aged woman takes her bearded husband by the hand and unzips their tent leading him down the worn, grass path to the medical tent. 

“I’m fine honestly,”

“No you’re not. Your fever is getting worse! You’re burning up!”

“There are people worse off. I won’t have them wasting medicine on me when it could be put to better use,”

The woman looks into his sunken, brown eyes and uses every ounce of inner strength not to give in.

“We are not dying here! Not like this…”

She cuts off as they reach the busy medical tent. Despite the sheer number of wounded and sick people she spots her. Sat on a wooden crate with a nurse poking around her right leg and her head dressed in white gauze and that crazy friend of hers- although she’s always been sure they are more than that but her daughter has never confirmed anything and she won’t dare ask her until she is ready.

Then she raises her head and those bold, blue eyes confirm everything.

“Alex?”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“Whoever stitched this up didn’t do a great job. I mean this is obviously not done professionally. You could’ve had blood poisoning and this is going to leave a nasty scar for sure…”

“Well at least she’s still alive,” Kelley snaps at the highly obnoxious army nurse checking out Alex’s leg. 

The nurse returns Kelley’s glare with one just as hard. 

“Do you want me to help your friend or not?”

“Girlf-“

“Mom, dad?”

Kelley’s eyes drift to Alex whose attention lies with the front entrance to the tent. 

Standing there with their eyes glued to Alex is the younger girl’s parents. Alex jumps of the table, grimacing in pain but shaking it off as she wraps the two people she thought she’d never see again in a suffocating bear hug.


	15. Survivor's Guilt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, but I'm back!

"Baby you know you shouldn't be out here"

Alex is right at the edge of the survivors' camp, beyond the perimeter, out of bounds. She's made it a habit to slip out here, unnoticed, to a creek out of sight at the very bottom of the last field. She sits on a smooth rock, feet in the water, numb from the cold. Her mother sits down next to her, arm around her shoulder, and after some resistance, she leans into her, head on her shoulder. 

 

"I've watched so many people die mom"

 

"Alex..."

 

"I had to kill people"

 

Alex's body starts to shake in her mother's arms. Pam lifts her daughter's chin and cups her face in her hands. She is trembling from the cold and the grief. Her eyes communicate the feelings she can't put into words. She is broken. 

 

"Alex, that wasn't you" her mother whispers. 

"Then I don't know who I am anymore..."

"You're my daughter. And I'll love you no matter what" Pam responds with a gentle kiss on her daughters pale forehead. 

But Alex is stubborn, plagued by the guilt and the grief she cannot shake. 

"So many people died mom! And so many times it should've been me! Why am I even here?"

"Baby please don't say that..."

"Everyone always says we have a chance, but do we really?"

Alex's eyes cast a glimpse of the interior pain, stronger than any amount of words could describe. They are glassy and pleading, searching for a shread of hope. Pam can't stand to see the daughter she thought she'd lost like this.

"Alex we thought we'd lost you..."

Alex stands up and starts to hobble away.

Her voice like ice she turns and fires,

"You already did..."

 

\-----

 

"I'm getting kinda worried about her" Allie mutters to Servando and Tobin. 

Sydney has been largely vacant since Dom's death. Every attempt to talk to her has been met with silence. 

"We each know what it's like to lose someone" Servando responds, with a weary glance at the young teen perched on top a supply box in their tent, staring into space. 

"It's how we handle it that matters"

"And how are you handling it Serv?" 

Kelley joins the conversation, on return from her water bottle fill up trip. 

"I'm fine. Why does everyone assume I'm weak?"

"Are you calling Syd weak" Kelley growls.

"She has to move on. We all do,"

"Weakness is not running from pain. It's facing it. You can't run forever"

"You don't know me Allie!"

Tobin can only watch in frustration. All these people do is argue and she can do nothing to break it up. 

Just on time, Alex and her mom arrive back at camp. Alex was gone for hours and they sent her mom to find her. It's getting late now and curfew is just around the corner. No more wandering. 

Alex takes in the argument and shakes her head, stepping into the tent with Syd and zipping it up behind her. She just wants to block everything out, and with Syd she doesn't have to talk. She might as well be alone. 

"Can we just make an effort not to fight with one another? We're only going to fall apart even more"

"You are not the leader here," Servando hisses at Allie, "And they are not our responsibility any more. If they want to be all depressed and shit, then let them. It's their choice"

 

"It's not a fucking choice Servando!" Kelley screams at Serv, "You think any of us want this? You don't get to take the higher ground here. You don't get to tell us how to feel! This is our one chance to break down, and you're making everything worse! Now fuck off and don't you dare open your stupid mouth again!"

 

"You lost her Kelley. And you aren't ever going to get her back..."

 

Kelley launches herself at him and throws a few punches before Allie and Tobin haul her off. 

 

"Fuck you Serv!"

 

Pamela watches in disgust and disbelief, before finally taking the incentive to step in.

 

"That's enough you lot! You're acting like children. Do you want to get us thrown out of here? Get in your tents now before the guards come our way. All of you!"

 

A few grunts and moans later and the only one left outside the tents is Pamela Morgan. 

 

_____

 

"Do you ever just wish it would all go away?"

Alex looks up to find Sydney still fixated on the same spot since she entered the tent. It's the first time she's spoken to anyone in a long time. 

"Tell me about it" Alex mutters, with a disgruntled laugh. She's beginning to feel particularly agitated what with the growing altercation going on outside their tent. 

"What would you know Alex?" Sydney hisses, finally turning her head to glare at her blue-eyed friend at the far end of the tent.

"You think I want any of this?" Alex says through a shrill laugh. 

"At least you have something to live for..." Sydney's dark stare burns right through Alex.

Alex is taken aback for a while, the force of those words hitting home. The mood in the tent shifts.

"Don't say that Syd..."

"Alex, I have nothing! I lost the one person I needed most in this life. Now's he's gone, nothing will ever be the same again!"

"You have us"

Sydney hesitates for a split second, as if to reflect on this suggestion.

"But you'll never love me the way I need to be loved"

The crack in Syd's voice breaks Alex.

"I know how much it hurts you to be without Dom Syd. But you still have us" Alex is running out of words.

"You know nothing Al! You still have Kelley. You know nothing of my pain!"

"Kelley hates me Syd..." Alex wheezes with a deep sigh, a heavy weight crashing down on her broken heart. 

"But you still have your family, you have Serv and even if Kelley is mad at you she will kill anybody that tries to hurt you. You have all these people holding you together. Nobody cares about me like that. Dom was all I had. Now he is gone,"

Sydney is sobbing now and Alex feels distraught at how low and lost her friend is. How could she feel so terrible, when somebody is going through even worse? The guilt swamps her and she hates herself. 

"I just need out of here. I need everything to stop. I can't take this feeling any longer"

"You need escape" Alex clarifies. 

"There is no escape from this Alex," Sydney replies bluntly. 

"You wanna bet," Alex smirks

She digs her hand into the front pocket of her jeans and returns with a small capsule full of pills. 

Sydney's jaw drops and her eyes light up just a little.

"Where on earth..."

"You don't think all those visits to the medical tent were for nothing..."

A rustling at the door of the tent cuts them off, and Alex stows away her secret stash. 

Tobin, Allie and Kelley step into the small tent, making it even more crowded. 

"Well this is cosy," Allie chirps, "Looks like we're gonna have to spoon. And it's bloody freezing, so I ain't sleeping alone. Me and Tobin are having this spot!" Allie hauls Tobin to the flattest part of the tent and collapses to the ground, throwing a blanket over the pair. 

Kelley and Alex make eye contact but neither say a word. 

Sydney stows the supply box at the front of the tent and curls up in the center, shutting her eyes and letting sleep consume her. 

Alex turns and takes the next free spot, curling up on her side underneath the blankets. She senses Kelley doing the same thing directly behind her, but she keeps her distance. Alex doesn't know how to feel- lonely or free?

Later in the night she is just about to drift off when she is jolted wide awake by arms wrapping around her and pulling her in. And she knows these arms all to well, she knows this feeling. 

"Kelley, I, I'm..."

"Shhhh," Kelley shushes her.

"Kelley I'm sorry"

Kelley traces her lips over Alex's collarbone, leaving a soft kiss on her neck. The sensation takes Alex's breath away and she starts to feel her heart thump. 

Kelley's hands are tracing Alex's skin, skimming over all the right spots to make her flush. 

"Kelley..."

Kelley muffles Alex with a finger to her lips. 

"Shutup and let me kiss you"

No sooner has she removed her finger from Alex's soft lips, Kelley's own lips come crasheing into them. She's pulling Alex in, holding her so tight. Alex's whole body is on fire, but she can't give in to this feeling. She struggles against her girlfriend's grip and pulls away. Kelley looks offeneded, hurt. 

"Kelley you know we can't do this here"

Kelley runs her fingers through Alex's silky hair, and leans in to whisper in her ear. 

"I need to know you want me babe"

"Kelley..."

"Say it babe," Kelley urges through a kiss on her girlfriend's jawline. 

Alex is fighting back against this feeling, fighting for control.

"We can't do this here"

"Cmon babe, we're the only ones awake"

Kelley is forming circles on Alex's ribcage, the sensation driving the latter crazy. 

Alex finally musters the strength to stop Kelley's movements and capture her attention.

"Kelley stop!" she hisses loud enough and firm enough to startle her girlfriend, but quiet enough not to disturb the other 3 sleeping girls. 

"You know it isn't just that. You can't just be mad at me and then pretend everything is the same as it used to be"

Now Kelley is done playing with her, and she drops her seductive tone.

"And whose fault is that?"

"We've been through a lot Kel. Why are you blaming everything on me?"

"You've changed Al! You're not the girl I woke up next to when this all broke out,"

"Take a look around Kel! None of of us are the same!"

The pair are face to face, centimeters between them, every emotion on display. There's a beauty in this vulnerability they fail to see amidst the chaos.

"Do you love me?" Kelley whispers, barely audible. 

"Yes," Alex chokes, after a brief hesitation. 

"Then come here"

Kelley ushers Alex in and plants a warm kiss on her forehead. 

"I can't lose you"

Alex can only nod.

"Now turn around and let me hold you like we always did"

Alex rolls back over onto her other side and Kelley wraps her arms around her. 

Kelley is out like a lightbulb. 

Alex barely sleeps a wink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing but love for my readers! This chapter was a little heavy and I want you all to know if you are struggling there is ALWAYS hope! You don't have to go through anything alone and you are worth every ounce of love and kindness in this world! Peace, love and hugs to you all!


End file.
